Young Tamil girl not given procedural fairness in visa application
Lawyers for a young Tamil girl from Biloela, whose family has spent a year in detention on Christmas Island as they fight deportation to Sri Lanka, have had a win against the Federal Government in court. Here’s what happens next.
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A YOUNG Tamil girl whose family is fighting to stay in Australia has had a win in court after it was ruled she was not given procedural fairness in making a visa application.
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Priya and Nades Murugappan and their Australian-born daughters Kopika and Tharunicaa, aged four and two, have spent more than a year on Christmas Island after an order halted their deportation to Sri Lanka.
Federal Court Justice Mark Moshinsky on Friday ruled Immigration Minister David Coleman had lifted the bar to consider a visa application for two-year-old Tharunicaa in May last year.
He had ordered a full departmental briefing on handling the family’s case, including the option that he exercise a power to allow them to apply for protection visas.
That prompted an assessment in August, during which Justice Moshinsky said Tharunicaa was “not afforded procedural fairness”.
Lawyers now have seven days to tell the Federal Court what should happen next.
The family’s lawyers put forward two arguments in a two-day hearing in Melbourne in February.
Angel Aleksov said both Mr Coleman and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton had taken procedural steps that required them to make a decision on granting a visa to Tharunicaa.
Stephen Lloyd SC, representing the ministers, had claimed if Mr Coleman requested information on the family, he was saying “Tell me what I could do”, rather than taking a formal procedural step.
The family will remain in detention while the process continues.
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