Biloela family expected to receive ‘good decision’ on ability to stay in Australia after major push

It’s been revealed when the fate of the Biloela family will be known after Barnaby Joyce launched an extraordinary spray at his own government.

The Acting Prime Minister is hopeful of “a good decision” for a Tamil family locked on Christmas Island, with their fate to be determined by the end of the week.

Michael McCormack has confirmed Immigration Minister Alex Hawke will hand down his decision on the Biloela family this week after almost three years in detention.

Mr McCormack said the government had “worked very hard through” the legal process as it faced growing pressure to allow the family, which includes two Australian-born girls, to remain in Australia.

“I’m hopeful that it’s going to be a good decision for the family,” he told Sky News.

“This has been a very, very difficult and challenging position for all concerned, of course the family first and foremost, but for the government as well.”

RELATED: Taxpayers spent $6.7m detaining Biloela family between August 2019 and January 2021

Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack says it’s been a ‘challenging position’ for the family and the government. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

The Coalition party room was split over the family’s future, after a group of MPs went public with their calls for the four to remain in Australia.

Mr McCormack conceded it might have been preferable to work through the family’s future sooner but claimed the government had weighed up their humanitarian needs against the prospect of an increase in illegal boat arrivals.

“We don’t want to give any encouragement to people smugglers to start their vile trade again and so that’s been the opposition. But look, we’re a very humanitarian government,” he said.

It comes after Barnaby Joyce launched an extraordinary attack on his own government, claiming the Biloela girls would be treated differently if their names were “Jane and Sally”.

The federal government has spent $6.7m detaining the family since August 2019, when an 11th-hour court injunction prevented their deportation to Sri Lanka.

Barnaby Joyce has called for the Biloela girls to stay. Picture: Gary Ramage / NCA NewsWire

But Mr Joyce said the two girls “didn’t buy their tickets” and had a right to stay in Australia “despite what the allegations might be about their parents”.

“Tharnicaa and Kopika were born in Australia. Maybe if their names were Jane and Sally we’d think twice about sending them back to another country which they’re not from,” the Nationals MP told Sunrise on Monday.

“Why not send them to Southern Sudan, why not send them to Rwanda to Belarus? They’re also countries they were never born in.”

Parents Nades and Priya were employed in Biloela before their detention, and Mr Joyce said regional Australia was in need of migrants to fill unemployment gaps.

Mr Joyce was one of several Coalition MPs calling for the family to remain in Australia but conceded the intervention would “leave me off-side with other people in my party”.

The government had flagged the prospect of the family being sent to the US or New Zealand, but their status as non-refugees quickly put an end to the idea.

Tharunicaa was rushed to hospital to fight a blood infection.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed alternative options, which include the family remaining in Australia, were being discussed with the Home Affairs Department.

“Those issues are always carefully considered in all of these sensitive cases,” he said.

But he flatly rejected suggestions the family could be offered a pathway to permanent settlement, which was “not the government’s policy”.

The comments apparently indicated one option for the family was remaining via a skilled migrant visa.

The Coalition has argued granting permanent residency for a family deemed not to be refugees would reignite the people-smuggling trade.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese said the family enjoyed strong support from the community before being “rounded up in the middle of the night” despite posing no threat to Australian sovereignty.

When I spoke up about refugees & supported medevac they tried to silence me. It’s like these MPs (including a paediatrician ) have been watching the cruelty, harm & torture and suddenly said “ ok enough now ...stop it , we’ve got an election to win” Disgusting #auspolhttps://t.co/ZNtea2mk1I

— Julia Banks (@juliahbanks) June 13, 2021

“How long does it take?” he told reporters on Monday.

“Enough is enough; this family need to be settled. We’re a better country than this … They’re Australian citizens, these two little girls, or they should be. They should be looked after here.”

It comes after former Liberal MP Julia Banks claimed she was “silenced” for speaking out on refugee rights within the Coalition.

“It’s like these MPs (including a paediatrician) have been watching the cruelty, harm and torture and suddenly said: OK enough now … stop it, we’ve got an election to win. Disgusting,” she tweeted.

The issue was brought to a head when the family’s three-year old daughter, Tharnicaa, was rushed to hospital fighting a blood infection, more than a week after supporters said her condition began to deteriorate.

Originally published as Biloela family expected to receive ‘good decision’ on ability to stay in Australia after major push