Ged Kearney (Cooper, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's my pleasure this morning to present a petition with 5,221 signatures requesting the House call on the minister for immigration to use his discretion to end the Murugappan family's misery by granting them permanent residency in Australia—indeed, to allow them to go home: home to Biloela, their Queensland home. This is a petition created by Dr Petrina Barson, a constituent of my electorate of Cooper and a member of the Centre for a Compassionate Society. Dr Barson, like so many of my constituents and the more than 5,000 people who signed the petition, has been horrified to watch the Morrison government's cruelty when it comes to this family. I know all of us on this side of the chamber share in this horror.

Priya and Nades and their girls, Kopika and Tharnicaa, are beloved members of their community in Biloela. They made a home in that small Queensland community. They had friends and supports. Nades had a job, and both he and Priya volunteered. And their two daughters were born here in Australia. When they were taken—whisked out of the community in a dawn raid from Border Force—their friends in their home town were outraged.

In the years since this family was taken from their home, the community of Biloela has not rested in calling for their return. This is a family who has done nothing wrong. They have sought Australia's protection from persecution, and Priya and Nades have told of horrific experiences in Sri Lanka—of a genuine fear that they could face violence or be killed. There has been nothing but cruelty from this government in response. It started with the dawn raid back in their home and it continued at the detention centres where this little family has been cruelly held. It went too far, even for this government, when Tharnicaa became seriously ill whilst in detention and they all but refused her proper medical treatment for far too long. Now the family has been released into the community on bridging visas, granted permission to be in Australia for another 12 months. But, rather than returning them to their home and to their community in Queensland, they have released them to community detention in Perth. Why? To keep them from their support networks? To add insult to the torment this government has put them through for the last four years? No-one truly believes at this stage that there is any genuine reasoning behind the misery the government is inflicting on them. Four years and $50 million later, there's been no benefit to the community in this family's detention. In fact, the Biloela community has been diminished; all of us in Australia have been diminished because of the cruelty and misery that has been wielded.

So I want to thank Dr Barson and everyone who signed the petition, and all of the activists in Biloela and around the country who continue to stand up for this little family. We won't stop fighting for you. Australia won't.

The petition read as follows—

Permanent residency for the Murugappan family

To the Honourable Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives, We, the undersigned, members and friends of the Centre for a Compassionate Society, respectfully request that the Murugappan family be given permanent residency, allowing them to return to their home in Biloela if they choose. Despite a negative determination for the protection claims of Priya, Nades and Kopeka, it is well-known that persecution of the Tamil minority continues in Sri Lanka. This family has suffered greatly at the hands of this government, being seized from their home, incarcerated for prolonged periods, attempts made to deport them, and inadequate treatment in detention of a serious illness of their youngest child. The Australian people have taken this family to their heart, and are appalled by the hardline treatment they have received from this government.

We therefore ask the House to call on The Minister for Immigration to use his discretion to end this family's misery by granting them permanent residency.

from 5,221 citizens (petition No.3130)