Biloela family: Immigration Minister Andrew Giles and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on same page

A Sri Lankan asylum seeker family’s bid to make Australia their permanent home seems a formality, with a key minister lending his support.

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles says he is working to allow the Nadesalingam family to remain in Biloela “with certainty” in line with position of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Names Murugappan, his wife Priya Nadaraja and daughters, Kopika and Tharnicaa returned to their Central Queensland home of Biloela last week after living in detention for the last four years.

“What I’m intending to do is enable to allow the family to continue in Biloela with certainty, which is the position that the Prime Minister has also articulated,” Mr Giles told the Guardian Australia on Wednesday.

Tharnicaa Nadesalingam celebrates her fifth birthday with her parents Priya and Nades and her sister Kopika in Biloela. Picture: Dan Peled/Getty Images

“That’s what the community wants and what Australians expect.”

Mr Albanese met with the Nadesalingam family in Biloela on Wednesday after a cabinet meeting in Gladstone.

In a press conference earlier that day, Mr Albanese could not provide a timeline for a decision on the Sri Lankan family’s permanent residency but said it was in Mr Giles’ hands.

However, the Labor government is unlikely to set a precedent in their move to grant permanent residency to the asylum seeker family.

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles says he is working to allow the Nadesalingam family to remain in Biloela ‘with certainty’. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

“The powers under the (Migration) Act are discretionary for a reason because the law can’t codify all unjust circumstances,” Giles said.

Last week, Mr Albanese told reporters he saw “no impediment” to the Nadesalingam family settling in Australia permanently after they were welcomed back home in Biloela.

The Tamil family has become a loved part of the Biloela community where they had been living and working on bridging visas but were taken into immigration detention when their visas expired in 2018.

Anthony Albanese said he saw ‘no impediment’ to the Nadesalingam family settling in Australia permanently. Picture: Supplied

The family said they would face persecution if deported to Sri Lanka, but the previous federal government found they did not meet refugee requirements.

Years of legal battles, detention and community campaigning to return them to the Queensland town they made their home followed before the new Labor government stepped in.

The family are on bridging visas and will need to undergo a formal application process to obtain permanent residency.