Scott Morrison: Tamil family has to leave

The PM won’t intervene, saying an “exception here or there” would kick-start people-smuggling.

Tamil asylum seekers Nadesalingnam, wife Priya, and their Australian-born daughters Dharuniga and Kopiga. Source: Twitter.

Scott Morrison will not intervene to stop a Tamil family being deported from Australia, saying an “exception here or there” would only kick-start the people-smuggling trade.

The Prime Minister said today that he would never make any decision that could possibly be seen as a message to other asylum seekers who think they could settle in Australia via boats.

He has been under increasing pressure from Labor, former Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce and Sydney radio star Alan Jones to let a Tamil family of four to stay in the country.

On Monday, Mr Morrison said his period as Immigration Minister meant he could not “in good conscience” allow the family to stay since they came by boat and have been found not to be refugees.

“I know what happens when people think it’s OK to make an exception here or there,” he said in Western Sydney.

“I remember what happened. I remember the deaths.

“I remember those terrible images and I will not never allow that to happen again if it’s within my power and where it’s within my power, they are the decisions my Government takes.”

Priya and Nadesalingam, who arrived by boat separately as asylum-seekers in 2012 and 2013, were last night in a small, air conditioned cabin next to the Christmas Island public pool and sports oval with their Australian-born children Kopika, 4, and Tharunicaa, 2.

The family’s detention has seen protests across the country led by senior Labor figures and the regional Queensland town of Biloela, where the family have been living for the past five years.

Mr Morrison said he understood the public mood, but would not change his mind. He also welcomed the family to make an application to return to Australia via the proper channels from Sri Lanka.

“I do understand the real feeling about this and the desire for there to be an exception but I know what the consequences are of allowing those exceptions,” he said.

“They can return to Sri Lanka and they can make an application to come to Australia under the same processes as everyone else, anywhere else in the world. And I would hope they do. I would hope they do.

“But they didn’t come to the country in the appropriate way. They have not been found to have an asylum claim.

“And to have changed our policy on this or to exercise intervention powers on this would be to send exactly the wrong message to those who are looking to sell tickets to vulnerable people looking to get on boats, it would send them the exact wrong message and that’s not something that I in good conscious can allow to happen and nor can my ministers.”

Dutton: Why family can’t stay

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has stared down “refugee advocates and Labor opportunists” he claims are spreading falsehoods about a Sri Lankan family held on Christmas Island, as their lawyer vows to keep fighting in the courts to keep them in Australia.

Priya and Nadesalingam, who arrived by boat separately as asylum-seekers in 2012 and 2013, were last night in a small, air conditioned cabin next to the Christmas Island public pool and sports oval with their Australian-born children Kopika, 4, and Tharunicaa, 2.

They were the only occupants of a once-crowded asylum-seeker camp on Christmas Island yesterday as thousands rallied around Australia for their return to the mainland. Carina Ford, the family’s Melbourne-based solicitor, is due in the Federal Circuit Court today and Federal Court on Wednesday in regards to the family’s possible deportation.

MORE: Sixth asylum bid halted | Island reopened for Tamil family

Writing in Brisbane’s Courier Mail today, Mr Dutton said the family had to go back to Sri Lanka and had been denied refugee status by various courts in Australia.

“The case of the family from Sri Lanka is also a complex case and has attracted a lot of media attention with many false claims by refugee advocates and Labor opportunists,” he wrote.

“Labor initially put them into detention and they were told all those years ago that, on the details they provided, they were not refugees under the UN definition so they would have to go home.

“They were told that they would never settle permanently in Australia, just like many others who arrived by boat. They never accepted that decision.”

Mr Dutton and Scott Morrison now face pressure from the regional Queensland town in which the family has laid down roots, from Labor and even from Sydney radio star Alan Jones to intervene and keep them in the country.

Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce reiterated his support for the Tamil family this morning and said Mr Dutton should save them from deportation.

“Time has moved on ... I hate going against Peter Dutton at times, but I think this is one of the special circumstances,” he told the Seven Network.

“They are part of the community and these are issues which we should take into consideration.”

"They're Australians"

Coalition MP @Barnaby_Joyce says the government should allow the Tamil family to stay in Biloela. pic.twitter.com/uF9xjaN1Sf

— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) September 1, 2019

Labor frontbencher Joel Fitzgibbon called for the family to stay, despite the consequences it could have for other asylum seeker family claims.

“The discretion is a discretion. It doesn’t create a legal precedent,” he told Seven News.

“It might put Peter Dutton under some more pressure somewhere down the track with a similar case or if other cases emerge, but that is why he is paid the big bucks.”

The Home Affairs Minister wrote in the Courier Mail today that keeping the family here could signal a weakening in Australia’s border protection policy and that he was focused on providing for families who have been found to be genuine refugees.

“It’s not that this family or those in the 68 million figure are unworthy or not sincere in their desire to live in Australia. The reality is our Government, with the support of the majority of Australians, has taken tough decisions over a number of years now to keep our borders secure and people off boats,” he wrote.

“At the same time we have brought refugees in who, in many cases faced imminent death or persecution, and their cases are much more compelling than those who are not refugees but simply want a stronger financial future for their families.

“The other reality is that we have a cap of 18750 refugee places each year and we take those most in need.”

The family’s lawyer Carina Ford today disputed Mr Dutton’s opinion piece and said the courts could not fully assess the family’s refugee status because their youngest daughter had not been born at the time.

“The media attention that has been brought on them has changed the way they should be assessed,” she told ABC radio.

“With the youngest child, we believe she has the right to have her claims considered, since we are still a signatory to the UN convention.

“The power to intervene in all sorts of cases … you still can have an exceptional case.

“The Australian community cares about this story, cares about this family.”