Two coalition MPs have called on their government to let a Tamil family whose children were born in Queensland to stay in Australia.
Priya and Nades Marugappan and their two daughters had been living in the small town of Biloela before they were taken to Christmas Island in 2019 as illegal immigrants.
Today, on Tharnicaa’s fourth birthday, Liberal National MP Ken O’Dowd and Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman said the asylum seeker family should be allowed to stay.
Mr O’Dowd, whose electorate includes Biloela, said he spoke to Immigration Minister Alex Hawke on Friday and asked him to let the family settle in Queensland.
“It’s no good for the family, it’s no good for the Australian taxpayer, it’s not good for anyone and it’s got to be resolved.”
Mr O’Dowd said Mr Hawke was currently looking through “about 2000 pages” of documentation but said there could be a resolution in “two weeks’ time”.
Mr Zimmerman, the Liberal member for North Sydney, also publicly supported the family today for the first time.
He said he had also spoken to Mr Hawke and asked him to “look favourably” on the application.
Mr Zimmerman told the ABC the case was complex as courts had previously found the family was not entitled to refugee status.
“But I think that in this case, there are strong compassionate grounds and an outpouring from the Australian community supporting their ability to stay in the community that has adopted them so strongly.”
Priya and Nades are both Tamil, a group that has been persecuted in Sri Lanka.
They have an older daughter, Kopika. Both girls were born in Australia.