Dutton lashes Albanese for trying to be ‘Mr Popular’ over Tamil

Peter Dutton says Albanese should “show leadership” over the Tamil family instead of telling people what they want to hear.

Anthony Albanesehas called on Peter Dutton to allow the Tamil family to stay. Picture: Jane Dempster.

Immigration minister Peter Dutton has lashed Labor leader Anthony Albanese for trying to be “Mr Popular” over the deportation of a Sri Lankan Tamil family.

At a press conference in Perth on Tuesday Mr Dutton stood firm against government intervention in the controversial case, saying similar families; “young boys and girls, mums and dads” who wanted a better life in Australia had been deported because they didn’t meet asylum seeker requirements.

Mr Dutton said the nation was not going to go back to “Labor’s days” when 1200 people drowned at sea and thousands of children were in detention.

“Mr Albanese needs to show some leadership here in a way that he hasn’t done in the last 48 hours,” Mr Dutton said. “He wants to make himself out to be Mr Compassionate, Mr Popular by telling people what they want to hear.”

“That’s what happened when Labor was last in power,” he said. “These boats that we’ve seen since the election have started their journey again because of the MediVac bill and because people thought Labor was going to be elected.”

The Australian revealed on Monday Australian Border Force officials were facing a surge of people-smuggling activity from Sri Lanka, with the sixth fishing boat carrying suspected illegal immigrants intercepted on August 7.

Mr Dutton said the family had “dragged out” their stay in Australia and delayed deportation by launching multiple appeal processes. The move, he said, made it “unfair” for the family to claim they had established strong community connections.

“I do think it’s excessive when it goes on for a number of years,” Mr Dutton said. “I think it’s unfair to the children in this case when the parents have been given a very definite decision when they [were told] they weren’t going to stay in Australia many years ago.”

He further clarified the Morrison government’s position, saying: “As we’ve said we’re not going to allow people to settle who come by boat and we’ll look at individual cases as we’ve done here.

“But clearly every decision maker right to the High Court has found they’re not refugees.”

Mr Dutton’s attack on the Labor leader came as the Nationals MP whose electorate was home to the Sri Lankan Tamil family for nearly four years appealed to him and to other senior colleagues to let them stay.

Ken O’Dowd, the member for Flynn, which takes in the Queensland town of Biloela, said he had been speaking with Mr Dutton, Immigration Minister David Coleman and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack in the last 48 hours after years of making representations on behalf of the family.

Mr O’Dowd wants the family to stay and said their possible deportation — which could occur as early as tomorrow after a Federal Court hearing – was sad.

“This is a very complex issue which has many factors involved. Over the last few years, I have been making representation to the ministers on behalf of the family, and they are very aware of my position on this,” he said.

“I have also made the views of my constituents very clear to the ministers. As recently as the last 48 hours, I have been speaking with Minister Colman, Minister Dutton and the Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, regarding the Sri Lankan family.”

While former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce also wants the family to stay, Queensland Liberal MP Warren Entsch said he had compassion for the children but not the parents.

“The father had been back to Sri Lanka on multiple occasions,” Mr Entsch said.

“The fact he’s got two Australian-born children … This is why we have these systems in place, to make sure we get the right outcomes. If it was me, personally, I’d be saying let the kids stay.”

Another Liberal MP lashed refugee organisations for using the media to give the family maximum exposure despite them not being refugees, but said the debate had reached a critical point where the government had lost the public argument.

“This has been used by refugee groups to typify the government as heartless. The case is growing for the Minister to use his powers,” the MP, who did not want to be named, said.

“The imagery of the two kids has been so awful. That’s what swung the public. It leaves a lingering doubt about the government’s compassion. That’s the problem. It’s not a dissimilar issue to children on Nauru.”

A Nationals MP who also did not want to identify themselves said on balance and not without reservations the family should be deported.

Albanese: Dutton can intervene as he did with au pairs

Earlier on Tuesday Mr Albanese called on Peter Dutton to intervene in the deportation of a Sri Lankan asylum seeker family the same way he intervened in the case of two au pairs he helped release from immigration detention.

Mr Albanese said Mr Dutton could “just do a cut and paste” from the media statement he made about his decision to grant the au pairs’ visas and use it for the Sri Lankan family.

“We wouldn’t be changing any of the government’s policies in order to have a bit of common sense for Peter Dutton to say … it’s in the best interest to have these people stay here,” Mr Albanese said on 2GB Radio this morning.

“That’s why the discretion is there in the act, to give the minister the power to intervene in cases like this.”

Mr Albanese said the “only difference in the au pair case was that someone had Mr Dutton’s number to ring him”.

Supporter's of the Biloela family gather for a vigil at Flagstaff Gardens in Melbourne. Picture: AAP.

Priya and Nadesalingam and their two Australian-born children, from Biloela. Picture: AAP.

Opposition Home Affairs spokesman Kristina Keneally also doubled down on her calls for Scott Morrison to “show Christian leadership” and intervene in the deportation of the Tamil family, saying she would make the intervention if she was minister.

MORE: Greg Sheridan writes; Family’s plight a dilemma of biblical proportions | Attack on Morrison’s faith splits Labour | Editorial: These are no refugees

Nadesalingam Murugappan and his wife Kokilapath­mapriya Nadarasa came to Australia illegally in 2012 and 2013 respectively and settled in the rural town of Biloela where they worked and volunteered in the community. They were flown to Christmas Island this week to be deported back to Sri Lanka.

Speaking on ABC Radio National this morning, Senator Keneally said while she didn’t want people smugglers to prey upon vulnerable people and risk their lives undertaking perilous journeys at sea, the issue had been created due to poor processing.

“Because of poor processing times within the Department of Home Affairs [they] had been allowed to spend a considerable amount of time in Australia,” she said. “They have become part of a community, they have found work, they have paid taxes … this is why our migration act has discretion.”

Asked whether she would let other failed asylum seekers stay, Senator Keneally said each case had to be determined on its merits.

“In this case, I would. As Peter Dutton has used his discretion to not just let two au pairs come into the country rather than being deported, but he has allowed a minor being held in regional processing in Nauru to settle with his family in Australia.”

Mr Albanese said of the planned deportation: “It’s un-Australian. What we have here is a family with two children … who are working with the community in Biloela.

“We have a government that says we should have growth and population in regional Australia and this is a relatively small regional town that wants these people and their contribution.”

Mr Albanese said Australia could still have “strong borders without losing our humanity” in the process.

“There is no justification for acting in a cruel manner. I support strong borders …. There is bipartisan support for that.

“The court found they are economic migrants rather than refugees. But millions of Australians have come as economic migrants here or are descendants of people who have come in that fashion.”

Senator Keneally pointed out the examples of former discretion had not “restarted the boats”.

“Peter has failed to notice that people smugglers have largely shifted their business model from boats to planes,” Senator Keneally said.

Her remarks came as her attack and that of and agriculture spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon on Mr Morrison’s Christianity triggered division within the ALP and as federal parliament prepares to debate repealing the medivac bill and religious freedom.

Senator Keneally said she was mindful some of her colleagues felt uncomfortable about using Mr Morrison’s Christian faith, but insisted it was fair game.

“I don’t like to bring religion into the political debate unnecessarily but the prime minister introduced it in the election campaign,” she said, explaining the debate was a question of values, compassion and discretion.

Christian Labor MPs, including NSW Labor MP Chris Hayes and Tasmanian Labor senator Helen Polley, distanced themselves from their frontbench colleagues on Monday, saying a focus on Mr Morrison’s faith was an unnecessary distraction from the Tamil family debate.