Dutton 'sympathetic' to allowing Lennox family to stay
A LENNOX Head family facing deportation are hoping Immigration Minister Peter Dutton is sympathetic toward their case.
Lismore
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A LENNOX Head family facing deportation now have a glimmer of hope after Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said on radio today he would be 'very sympathetic' toward allowing them to stay in Australia.
When The Northern Star broke the news to him, Kai Tippett was overjoyed.
"Oh really," he said excitedly.
"If he is referring to our situation, then I'm totally over the moon."
Mr Tippett, his partner Hayley and their three children were refused permanent residency in Australia in November last year as a doctor's report declared their six-year-old daughter Sienna, who has a mystery illness, would be 'a burden to the Australian community'.
The family moved to Australia in 2011, when Sienna was a healthy 10-month-old, but only six months later they noticed she was wobbly on her feet when walking and her speech was slurred.
Numerous tests and specialist medical appointments failed to diagnose Sienna's illness.
Radio 2GB host Ray Hadley raised the issue of Ministerial intervention in an interview with Mr Dutton this morning.
Mr Dutton explained a tribunal reviews each case and he can only intervene after the tribunal makes it's decision.
He said he dealt with these sort of cases every day, particularly where children were involved, and the government did have a compassionate approach.
"There's another case that's been in the media in recent days involving a little girl with a disability," he said.
"Now I haven't seen the full facts, I've asked for an urgent brief on it and in those cases on the facts as I've seen them reported, I would be very sympathetic to that case and allowing that family to stay in Australia."
Mr Tippett said he would be very interested in speaking to Mr Dutton about their situation.
A spokesman for Mr Dutton said he would not comment further on the case until an urgent brief he had requested had been reviewed.
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