Extract from ABC News
By political reporter Tom Lowrey
Opinions are split within Coalition ranks over whether a Tamil asylum seeker family currently detained on Christmas Island should be allowed to settle in their adopted home of Biloela.
Key points:
- Liberal MP Katie Allen is the latest to speak out against the family's detention
- Nationals MP Anne Webster questioned the precedent set by shifting policy for the Murugappan family
- Doctors treating four-year-old Tharnicaa have asked the government to let the family be together
While more Coalition MPs begin to speak out in favour of allowing the family to stay in Australia, others are questioning why the family should be treated differently from others.
The family have been living in immigration detention on Christmas Island since 2019, after they were removed from their home in Biloela, Queensland by Border Force officers in 2018.
Four-year-old Tharnicaa Murugappan remains in a stable condition at Perth Children's Hospital after being medically evacuated from Christmas Island a week ago, and is being treated for sepsis.
Liberal MP Katie Allen has joined the swelling group of Coalition backbenchers calling for an end to the saga, and for the family to be granted residency.
"We urgently need a timely resolution to a situation that is endangering the health and wellbeing of innocent children," she said on social media.
Dr Allen suggested that Immigration Minister Alex Hawke intervene in the case.
Concerns intervention sends wrong message
There are also those within the Coalition warning any intervention by the Minister would send a troubled message.
Nationals MP for Mallee, Anne Webster, said she was regularly contacted by many within her community facing their own visa issues, and all were deserving of attention.
She told the ABC intervening in this case would set a difficult precedent.
"I think we need to be very clear about the principles that we hold, and the processes," she said.
The Victorian MP said while she shared the compassion held by her colleagues and others lobbying for the family to stay, these cases should not be decided by public campaign.
"Where do you start and stop?" she said.
"Is it because the media have been able to frame this family's story to the Australian people — that is the reason they should have precedence over anyone else?
"I would argue that's not actually the right reason."
And she warned of the possible consequences a shift in policy might bring.
"We have a responsibility as government, and the minister has a responsibility to protect our borders," she said.
"We don't want to see the smuggling trade pick up and run again."
Tharnicaa's doctors call for family to be reunited
Doctors treating Tharnicaa in Perth have asked the Department of Home Affairs to let the family be together while the young girl recovers.
Tharnicaa is being treated for sepsis at Perth's Children's Hospital.
While officials say she is stable, and her condition has improved over recent days, they do not consider her ready to be discharged.
Her father and older sister remain on Christmas Island, but her doctors say Tharnicaa would benefit from having the family together.
Western Australia's top health bureaucrat, David Russell-Weisd, said doctors had advised Tharnicaa should be permitted to stay in Perth following her treatment, too.
"She will need ongoing care," he said.
"For the best medical and psychological outcome for Tharnicaa, the best thing for her is to have the care at Perth Children's Hospital, and have ongoing care following her time in hospital."
WA Premier Mark McGowan has previously called for the family to be allowed to return to Biloela.
He said the intervention by WA Health officials might be a path for the federal government to resolve the issue.
"If they are looking for a circuit-breaker, this could be the circuit-breaker they're looking for," he said.
Supporters welcome new voices for change
Vigils
were being held on Sunday afternoon in support of the family, both in
Biloela and outside the hospital in Perth where Tharnicaa was
recovering.
Organisers of the campaign to return the family to Biloela welcomed the new support from some Coalition MP's.
But family friend Angel Fredericks said it needed to provoke action.
"For Liberal and National MPs to speak out in this manner gives us some much-needed hope, but we remind them that the safety and wellbeing of a young family is at stake," she said.
"Now is the time for more than words."
Labor frontbencher Penny Wong said pressure was mounting on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to act on the case.
"Nobody wants to see children in the circumstances that these kids are," she said.
"I'd say to Mr Morrison, let's do the right thing, and do what the community wants.
"Do what your own backbenchers want."
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