Biloela family win slight reprieve in Federal Circuit Court ruling

Three members of a Tamil family removed from Biloela in central Queensland will be allowed to apply for new bridging visas after a decision by the Federal Circuit Court.

Nadesalingam Murugappan, back left, and wife Kokilapathmapriy Nadarasa, with daughters Thaarnica and Kopika.

Three members of a Tamil family removed from Biloela in central Queensland will be allowed to apply for new bridging visas after a decision by the Federal Circuit Court.

Judge Heather Riley said it was “legally unreasonable” for Immigration Minister Alex Hawke to not include submissions sent to him by lawyers acting for the asylum-seeker family within the timeframe he specified.

Justice Riley also said Mr Hawke failed to articulate why barring the three members of the Murugappan family from applying for new bridging visas was in the public interest, denying them procedural fairness.

“Assuming, as I think I ought to, that the minister is rational, it follows that the revocation decision was based on some other critical issue, which the minister has not made known to the applicants or the court,” she said on Monday.

The visas of Priya, Nades and Kopika are due to expire in September but the youngest member of their family, four-year-old Thaarnica, has not been granted a visa bridging visa and must stay in immigration detention in Perth.

The rest of the family is technically free to travel around Australia for the duration of their visas but have chosen to stay with the toddler.

The Federal Circuit Court action did not apply to Thaarnica because a brief on her is before the Immigration Minister.

Family friend Simone Cameron said Nades was working in the community and Thaarnica and Kopika were due to return to school soon.

She said the Federal Circuit’s Court decision was significant but didn’t restrain the Immigration Minister from again preventing the family from receiving bridging visas in the future.

“I feel like we’ve made some progress but we haven't got justice so I don’t know there’s any practical outcome at this stage,” she said.

Ms Cameron said supporters of the family believed sustained community pressure would more likely save the family than a decision of the courts.

“We know that the Australian Labor Party has spoken up continuously in support of the family and them being returned,” she said.

“We‘re pretty fearful if the LNP are returned to power (at the next federal election) because it’s been nearly four years now and they haven’t done the right thing yet.”

Shadow Immigration Minister Kristina Keneally said Mr Hawke should use his discretion to allow the Biloela family to return home to central Queensland.

“Alex Hawke and Scott Morrison are simply choosing not to intervene, allowing this cruel and inhumane saga to continue at considerable cost to the family and to the taxpayer,” she said.

“Nades, Priya and their two children built a life in regional Queensland. They have worked hard, paid taxes, contributed to their community and have been supported by their friends and neighbours, who want them in Australia.”

Priya and Nades arrived in Australia on boats in 2012 and 2013, respectively, before they were removed from their home in Biloela in a 2018 dawn raid.

The couple claim their family will face persecution if their family is returned to Sri Lanka.

The Australian approached Minister Hawke’s office for comment.