Warringah MP Zali Steggall introduces petition to open borders to overseas parents
Warringah MP Zali Steggall has introduced a 70,000-strong petition to Parliament calling for parents living overseas to be allowed to see family in Australia.
Manly
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Independent Warringah MP Zali Steggall this week introduced a petition to Parliament calling for parents to be reclassified as immediate family.
More than 70,000 people living in Australia have signed it, including many migrants living on the peninsula who have been separated from their families since COVID emerged.
Ms Steggall said in parliament that she “calling on this government to show greater compassion on travel exemptions”, following the closure of the border as an emergency measure 14 months ago.
She said the petition was calling for parents be added to the category of ‘immediate family’ for travel exemptions.
“In March last year the government locked our borders down in an emergency measure, but it has been 14 months since, and they have failed to show any flexibility or even advise on a time line or road map as to when those borders are likely to open,” she said.
“Australia is a multicultural country where many of our fellow citizens and permanent residents have migrated from overseas.
“From my own community in Warringah, 30 per cent are migrants with close family living overseas. These are skilled migrants boosting our economy and filling skills shortages.
“They now face an indefinite scenario of being separated from their parents and not being able to access any assistance from them — young mums and dads especially. They need their parents for assistance. They’re struggling to return to work. The children are suffering emotionally and financially.”
Ms Steggall called on the government to come up with a long-term plan, otherwise, Australia is facing a skills drain due to this policy.
In a previous speech in Parliament she referred to the fact a movie star — who she did not name but is US actor Natalie Portman — has been allowed to bring her parents with her to Australia while she films here.
Mum Kateyrena Dmydriyeva, 33, living in Ryde, but originally from the Ukraine, is one of the admins in the Facebook group ‘Parents are Immediate Family’.
She said she was grateful for Ms Steggall for introducing their petition and calling for action.
Her mother, who had been living with her for a year was unable to return when she left to renew her visa, just before the borders shut.
“I had post-natal depression, that’s why my mother was here helping me,” she said.
“It feels so unfair to see celebrities, some are third grade or bloggers here with their girlfriends and boyfriends or with their family.”
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Hundreds of northern beaches residents separated from loved ones overseas because of the pandemic are getting behind a campaign to open Australia’s international borders.
Facebook groups such as Parents are Immediate Family have seen thousands of people join following Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s recent warning that borders may not open until 2022.
A petition calling for the government to allow parents to be regarded as immediate family so they can apply for an exemption to the travel ban has raised 65,000 signatures.
Among the heartbreaking stories is that of Australian mum Natalie Coulson, 42, of Balgowlah Heights, who says she’s suffering from ‘COVID-grief”, after being separated from her eldest two children since last March.
Sabina Hiller, 11, and James Hiller, 9, live in Canada with their father.
“It’s a crazy, unconventional system, but it worked,” Ms Coulson said.
“For five years it worked and we would see each other every school holidays.”
But she said, while the children can get exemptions to get into Australia, there are no planes flying from Canada to Australia.
With no direct flights it makes the journey unfeasible for the two children to do.
While their father is prepared to accompany them part of the way to LA, the border and quarantine restrictions and associated costs make the trip unrealistic.
Ms Coulson, who has a two-year-old with a new partner, said she hopes to apply for an exemption to fly to Canada this year so she can at least see them for a couple of weeks.
She said she wanted the government to get the vaccination program moving quicker and commit to opening up the borders sooner, so direct flights can resume.
“My daughter is struggling and finding it very difficult,” Ms Coulson, a marketing communications consultant, said.
“It’s very difficult for me too.
“I know there will be a bit of PTSD coming at some point, as I’ve blanked it out a bit. But I’ve been grieving.”
Northern beaches federal MPs are among a small number of politicians who have begun pushing for the government to accelerate the reopening of international borders, saying people will have to get used to COVID cases increasing.
Jason Falinski, MP for Mackellar, and Zali Steggall, independent MP for Warringah, have both separately called for a roadmap to lifting border restrictions.
Mr Falinski said Australia was the most ethnically diverse country in the world and therefore there were a lot of people separated from loved ones.
He has had more than 300 requests for help from citizens stranded abroad or people needing to travel overseas for family reasons.
He himself has a sister in Silicon Valley, in the US, who he has not seen since the pandemic started.
Mr Falinski said 70 per cent of the population supported border lockdowns and their views had to be respected, but ultimately Australia cannot not remain isolated forever.
He said the economy will be able to cope with border closures for another six months, but when other trading partners open up businesses will struggle to compete.
“Yes, there will be more COVID cases, but if we have been vaccinated they won’t be as severe and it won’t spread as easily and we will be able to cope,” Mr Falinski said.
“It will be like a normal flu season.”
Mr Falinski said the rhetoric from some state premiers like Queensland’s Anastasia Palaszczuk about the dangers of new strains was “cruel” and caused unnecessary fear, when there is a vaccine.
He said the vaccine was an important part of the solution and people need to get their COVID jab.
“It is a three month process, don’t wait,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ms Steggall, said she had helped around 100 people get back into the country during the pandemic, as well as support those needing to get to other countries because of personal circumstances.
She called for a better approach to the vaccine rollout to ensure people were getting their jabs.
Meanwhile, other residents on the peninsula who say “they are the forgotten ones” in this pandemic, have begun to tell their heartbreaking stories of being separated from loved ones indefinitely too.
Romy Sasse, 36, was born in Germany, but is now living in Manly with Australian husband, Robert Salmon, 40. They have two boys, Tom, 2, and Max, 7 months. They are considering moving to Germany.
“We both have great jobs, it would be a lot to give up but if there is no plan to open soon we are considering leaving,” Ms Sasse said.
“We have now had enough following the latest announcement that the borders may not open until 2022.”
She said the border restrictions were having an impact on her being able to work.
“When my first was born my mum came over for the first two months and then came back when he was six months old for six weeks while I started back at work.
“I’ve had to extend my maternity leave because I don’t have the support here.”
She said she wasn’t asking for unrestricted access for everyone, but she wanted parents to be treated as immediate family and allowed in if they are vaccinated and willing to quarantine.
Gemma Croxen, 39, and husband Rob Whitehouse, 40, originally from the UK, live in Curl Curl with their three children, Albi, 6, Amber, 4, and Jack, 9 weeks.
“We have zero family support in Australia,” Ms Croxen said.
“Both our families are still in the UK so we are missing them terribly during this time. They are missing out so much on our kids’ lives and at this rate won’t meet their newborn grandchild until he is walking, incredibly precious time we will never be able to get back or re-create.
“On top of all this our eldest is diagnosed with ADHD and ODD. He’s definitely a fairly large handful, very busy, hugely impulsive (in the form of aggression) and highly sensory seeking.
“He’s a gorgeous little boy but can be hugely challenging to manage.”
She said between the two sets of parents making multiple visits they have around 15 to 20 weeks of extra support a year.
“We are exhausted from not having the support,” she said.
She said they are very grateful to live in Australia, but the thought of having to wait another year to see family was incomprehensible.
She said the one good thing to come out of the pandemic was their “COVID baby” newborn Jack, who was an unexpected surprise.
British-born Gail James, 39 and husband Steve, 46, of Avalon, moved here 14 years ago and have two children Josh, 4, and Cara, 3.
Ms James, who works for a non-profit group raising awareness of childhood dementia, said she felt that people separated from family who live overseas are “the forgotten group” in this pandemic.
“My story isn’t particularly dramatic, but there’s millions of people like us,” she said.
“I’m Australian, my children are Australian, but there’s an absolute disinterest from much of the population that we are separated from our closest family members.”
She said she was desperate for her parents to see their grandchildren, who were unable to talk when they last saw them.
“It’s time you can’t get back,” Ms James said.
“I also worry I might never see my parents again.”
She said the talk around border restrictions should not be about making a decision when a certain proportion of the population has been vaccinated, it should be about setting a date for the reopening and making sure everyone was vaccinated before then.
She said the current plan was not working because she knew people in their 70s who were saying they were in no rush to get the jab and really didn’t care if the borders never opened again.
“It’s a global pandemic and we are global citizens,” she said.
“We all have a role to play.”
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