Image: 7plusWelcome back to Australia's favourite bush bonkfest All articles from our website & appThe digital version of Today's PaperBreaking news alerts direct to your inboxInteractive Crosswords, Sudoku and TriviaAll articles from the other regional websites in your areaContinueHere, nothing sexual happens on-screen, but like in the old days, imaginations are adult-rated. All the FWAW contestants are here because The picture above is from a future episode No-one knows this better than Farmer Corey a sheep farmer who looks ready to jump at anyone who turns his way let's spend a bit of time getting to know him first The drama starts early - SUVs carry four women to each of the farms with everyone wondering how far the others got on their 24-hour date Truth is they ran out of things to say 20 hours ago Corey is from Queensland, which is reflected in the bunch of suitors selected for him - they're either from his own state, or from Victoria, so probably moving to Queensland soon anyway Either way it gives him an advantage pulling a lady to live with him on his farm reCAPTCHA - Prove you're not a robot: select all the pictures in which Corey is looking lonely.Corey's suitors were drawn from less traditionally male jobs: child care It's a lifetime of care and assistance plotted out before him; Corey just has to decide which stage of life he wants a wife-nurse for In episode one Corey ditched three of them: early childhood educator Ellie speech pathologist Jamie and aged care support worker Millie indicating he's aiming for a companion for middle age Either that or he just doesn't like names that sound like nicknames because his real name is Albacore and everyone refuses to use it - even his mum who hasn't been close to this many women in years Image: 7plusCorey seemed a bit rattled by the early drama and sending people home But he quickly got over that and rejoined the throng for some champers and I know because there's so many hitman shows on my streaming services you'd think it was a common occupation Corey had better get used to it because with all the competitors now under his roof Either that or it will be edited so it looks that way lean over this way a little."I'm actually looking for a wife not a farmhand," says Tom who deserves praise for completing a sentence It looks like two ladies are going to ditch the whole shebang Early signs in Tom's house are that Emmie and Bridget are not "vibing" Bridget took herself away to catch up on some reading It's never a good sign when the maxi taxi arrives from Wagga."My time is valuable" says lawyer Bridget and who describes patience as "one of my virtues" before deciding to leave on the morning of Day 2 without saying goodbye Bridget is shocked to have been forced to be part of this five women locked in a house competing for a boring farmer's affection Why didn't anyone tell her series 15 would be just like the others They leave without saying goodbye and I bet that would have been a fun cab ride Maybe they're having more fun in Queensland where the girls are ogling Corey from behind They spent three years in detention after arriving on boats, before being freed to make a life in Australia. Just like the early convicts, really. It's a new part of the citizenship test for new migrants designed to instil an appreciation of modern Australia's roots as a penal colony.* Every time he meets a girl she expects him to be humane and caring That's just too much pressure for a bloke to bear Alas, the floodgates didn't open and all Corey has to show for it is a well-chewed lawn and a nagging sense the goats think they're smarter than him. Corey has never liked that feeling. So it's back to sheep. And ladies, a flock of which he has just had delivered. He's sharpened himself up a bit too, and he's been watching old Craig McLachlan music videos to get the look. The scene is set early for Rosie to be sent home, with some suggestions she is "reserved" and "hard to get to know" or something. They contrive a mud fight that's not very muddy and they have to wipe sludge on their faces for the "after" shot. It's so much easier to be affectionate when it's goodbye.Sure enough Rosie decides she's not cut out for this group setting, another one surprised by how this 15-year-old show works. Maybe that's a nice of way of saying the farmer bores me. Back in Kimba, SA, Clarette from Pomgolia is getting worried she's on the chopping block. A bit of tonsil hockey should keep Thomas interested. "I'm hoping my future life could be with this group of ladies here right now," says Thomas, who seems to think we're in Utah. Maybe he said "wife" not "life". He calls Nat a "friend" and packs her off. Maybe it's really called Farmer Wants a Life. Hey, everyone on the farm seems to be surprised by the least surprising show on TV. So why can't we? * This is a recap of a TV dating show for entertainment purposes. Some of the assertions are not strictly true. Some are not even close to being true. You should not rely on this piece or its contents for relationship advice, how to vote, or family planning decisions. Today's top stories curated by our news team Grab a quick bite of today's latest news from around the region and the nation Catch up on the news of the day and unwind with great reading for your evening Get the editor's insights: what's happening & why it matters Get the latest property and development news here Find out what's happening in local business tips & travel writing to transport you around the globe Your weekday morning newsletter on national affairs Your essential national news digest: all the big issues on Wednesday and great reading every Saturday Let the ACM network's editors and journalists bring you news and views from all over reviews and expert insights every Thursday from CarExpert Your digital replica of Today's Paper Test your skills with interactive crosswords Sign-up to the latest news from Australian Women’s Weekly Disclaimer: By joining, you agree to our Privacy Policy & Terms of Use On the surface, everything seemed normal. It was a sunny, blue-sky day in early May, when Priya and Nades welcomed The Weekly to their temporary townhouse in East Cannington, Perth. They ushered us in and served homemade snacks and sweet tea. Being a weekday, their daughters, Kopika, who was turning seven that week, and four-year-old Tharnicaa, were at a nearby primary school. A gaggle of sulphur-crested cockatoo toys – the symbol of their much-loved former home in Biloela, Queensland – was perched on top of the TV. Priya and Nades were polite and warm. But within minutes of starting our conversation, Nades was passing tissues to his wife as tears flowed and her voice rose with emotion, a torrent of sentences tumbling over each other in her native Tamil, an interpreter asking her to slow down and patting her hand in comfort. As it turns out, everything was far from normal for the Nadesalingams (who are also known as the Murugappan family). And it had been that way for some time. Nades and Priya, both 45, had come to Australia from war-torn Sri Lanka, in 2012 and 2013 respectively. They’d met and married in Sydney in 2014. It was an arranged marriage, and although they had spoken on the phone, they’d not seen each other before their wedding day. But as Nades says, “I always thank God because he has blessed me with Priya as my wife. Through thick and thin, and no matter what we have been through in life, we stand by each other.” The family are still dealing with the fallout from their horrifying experience. The newlyweds moved to Biloela, a six-and-a-half hour drive north-west of Brisbane. Locals call it Bilo. Farmland in the area produces beef cattle, mung beans, sorghum, chickpeas and wheat, but the main employment comes from a power station, a coal mine and an abattoir. Nades found work in the abattoir with roughly 500 other employees who hailed from over 20 different countries. Priya joined the local crafting group, cooked curries for the staff at the Bilo hospital and volunteered wherever she could. And both were soon busy raising their two bright-eyed girls. Priya would later tell her friend Angela Fredericks: “Biloela is my home. It is where my life started. It is where I got to be a wife, to fall pregnant – to be a happy person.” But the family’s life in Australia was dependent on a series of temporary bridging visas, so it was constantly in the balance. On March 4, 2018, after living in Biloela for four years, Priya’s visa was due to expire. She had applied for a new one, had gone through all the correct channels and was told it was in the mail. View this post on Instagram A post shared by #Hometobilo (@bringthemhometobiloela) It didn’t arrive. Instead, at 5am on March 5, there was a loud knock at the door of the family’s cottage in Rainbow Street. Nades opened it and was shocked to see what he estimates were 50 Australian Border Force officials, police and Serco (private security contractor) guards. “We were told to raise our hands in the air and they forced us to sit on the sofa, as if we were criminals,” says Priya, her voice trembling and tears pricking her eyes. “Both the girls were screaming and crying because they were afraid. We were not allowed to hold them. They kept us separated from them.” Priya was still in her nightie; Nades wore only a sarong around his waist. They were ordered to hand over their mobile phones and the children’s birth certificates, and then given just 10 minutes to change nappies and dress. There was no time to pack. They were not told where they were going. The officers then took them to separate vehicles – Priya and the children in one, Nades in another. The parents’ pleas to keep the family together were ignored. Even once they were in the car, Priya was kept in the back, tightly wedged between officers, while the children were up front, desperate to be with their mother. “I was still breastfeeding Tharnicaa and I asked the officers if I could put her on my breast to comfort her. I was pleading with them. They refused. I said, ‘What wrong have I done to deserve this? Are you human? Do you have children?’ ‘What wrong have I done to deserve this? Are you human? Do you have children?'” Priya tried to reason with the police when they were taken. Priya says that a female officer told her that this was, “not something for you to ask” and that the child would eventually fall asleep. She didn’t. Tharnicaa was hysterical for the entire one-and-a-half hour drive to Gladstone Airport. At the airport, the family was transferred to a charter plane. They still had no idea where they were being taken. Once on board, the parents were held between security officers and the children were once again separated from them. “Even today, the question in my mind is, ‘Why were we treated this way?'” says Priya. “I still have no answer. Why did they need so many security people? Why did they separate us from our children? When we were on a plane, with seatbelts on and the doors locked, how were we going to get out? Why were we being treated like dangerous criminals?” They were flown to Melbourne and put in MITA (Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation) in Broadmeadows. Priya describes their living conditions there by saying: “It was not detention, it was jail. We were surrounded by an electric fence topped with barbed wire. There were Serco guards with us at all times. At least what happened to me in Sri Lanka happened in a war. Here in Australia there is no war. This was like a silent war.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by #Hometobilo (@bringthemhometobiloela) cut off from the community they loved over 1500 kilometres away The people of Biloela started making noise they drummed up support from a core group of local women drew up a change.org petition (which currently has almost 600,000 signatures) established the #HomeToBilo movement and publicised the plight of this one small family who Australians ultimately took into their hearts “Bilo is a very traditional Queensland country town,” says Angela it votes National and there is a ridiculous number of churches here But it’s also a really multicultural community and we have that small town thing where we stick up for each other they were very much part of our community and they would be there at everything whether it was school fetes or Christmas parties And then they were just taken away suddenly even though they’d done nothing wrong “I remember talking to another mum who took her kids to the same playgroup as Priya’s kids and she said to me Did they take the wrong people?’ Everyone loved them And anyone who lives in our town is one of us The local community sprang into action when they heard what had happened But things were to become even worse for the family but twice they were bundled onto a plane with the intention of deporting them to Sri Lanka And both times a last-moment injunction from the family’s lawyers prevented it happening while in mid-air The first time was just a week after they were taken from Biloela in 2018 The plane was turned around in Perth and they were returned to Melbourne and spent almost 18 months there but instead of going back to Melbourne they were then transported to Christmas Island becoming the only inmates at the infamous detention centre at an estimated cost of $6.7 million dollars to the Australian taxpayer the mental and physical health of the children had deteriorated Kopika began biting herself and pulling her hair out due to anxiety Because of bad nutrition and a lack of vitamin D due to deprivation of sunlight Tharnicaa’s new teeth came through rotten The family experienced terrible conditions and illness while on Christmas Island where they lived under guard in a demountable Tharnicaa contracted pneumonia and blood poisoning It took 14 days for authorities to finally acknowledge that she needed to be airlifted to Perth for treatment And that is how the family found themselves living in community detention in Perth, forced to abide by a list of 23 conditions and restrictions, and at the mercy of the Australian government. To complicate matters, little Tharnicaa has never been granted a visa, meaning she does not have basic rights such as a Medicare card. Although she only turned five this year, she is acutely aware of her uncertain status and that she is different from the rest of the family. When The Weekly first visited Nades and Priya in May, the federal election was 10 days away and they were incredibly nervous about their future. The then Liberal government had given no indication that it would change its hardline approach to the family. Peter Dutton (who had been Minister for Home Affairs, Immigration and Border Protection at the time the family was snatched) had repeatedly said that they were not genuine refugees and had referred to Kopika and Tharnicaa as “anchor babies” (a slur Donald Trump popularised in his racist rhetoric about Mexican immigrants). When asked what she would do if Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton came to her door, Priya told The Weekly: “I would welcome them into our home and be hospitable to them, and I would say to them that all we want is protection and safety for us and our children. We will work hard, we will pay our taxes and we will be part of the community in Bilo. I would plead with them for that.” No one is disputing that Nades and Priya came to Australia seeking asylum, nor that they travelled in boats with people smugglers. They had compelling reasons to do that. They were desperate. They were escaping the dire situation that faced Tamils following the civil war in Sri Lanka, which had raged for 26 years, resulting in war crimes and the deaths of more than 50,000 military personnel and 100,000 civilians. Nades, like many young Tamil men, had been forced to join the resistance movement popularly known as the Tamil Tigers. When the movement was defeated in 2009, former members’ lives were in grave peril. Priya’s past is also haunted by trauma. She speaks of abuse and atrocities committed against her family, and she witnessed the death of her fiancé and other men in her village – tyres were forced over their heads and they were burned alive. Despite the former Australian Government’s claims that it was safe for Tamils to return to the country, many human rights groups disagree. And as the family’s story has been international news for over four years now, they would be an obvious target. Nades and Priya believe they would be arrested, tortured, or even killed, while the girls would be sent to orphanages. View this post on Instagram A post shared by #Hometobilo (@bringthemhometobiloela) But their supporters were determined it wouldn’t come to that a growing number of Australians and a wide array of prominent politicians and commentators also wanted them to go back The debate about the family’s future accelerated in the lead-up to the election There was public support from a group of Liberal backbenchers and notable conservatives such as Queensland MP Bob Katter shock jock Alan Jones and former Nationals leader and deputy PM Barnaby Joyce grant visas that allow the family to go back to Biloela and stay in Australia,” Kristina Keneally said in May “And if the Morrison government won’t do it Anthony Albanese confirmed this publicly a lot was hanging on the 2022 Federal Election “We are absolutely terrified,” she said She’s so strong but I can see the mental toll this is having on her She’s been praying daily about the outcome of this election until their feet are back on the ground here in Bilo The family nervously awaited the election results so they could learn their fate As soon as the election result was confirmed on that Saturday night Angela put in a Zoom call from Biloela to Priya in Perth “You’re coming home to Bilo!” Angela exclaimed Priya burst into tears and the two girls started comforting her and handing her tissues They had seen their mother cry so often that they assumed this was more bad news Angela had to explain to them that we don’t just cry when we are sad – that these were tears of joy When Nades returned home later that evening he and Priya fell into each other’s arms the relief on the couple’s faces was palpable “This is such happy news,” said Nades who was meticulously ironing Priya’s sari for her to wear in our photo shoot There will be no more crying in the future.” her attention is already turning to others “My prayer is that this government will make a change to the lives of every single refugee who comes here,” she said I had the support of Nades and we had the support of the people of Bilo But many others don’t have that support she would say goodnight to Kopika and Tharnicaa and they would tell her to dream about them being back in Bilo Angela was preparing to fly to Perth to accompany Priya and they were back in Bilo in time to celebrate the town’s multicultural festival and Tharnicaa’s fifth birthday in the second week of June her involvement in trying to save the family has changed her life in fundamental ways “I’ve learned the importance of people power a lot of people told us that there was nothing we could do about this But there’s so much you can achieve if you all stand together.” You can read this story and many others in the July issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly – on sale now Subscribe and be in with the chance of winning $25,000 cash or prize pack exclusive content via our monthly subscriber newsletter follow the instructions for your browser below Please call us on 1800 070 535 and we’ll help resolve the issue or try again later Any Questions? Please call 1800 070 535 Saturday & Sunday 7:00am – 11:30am (AEST) The 13-year-old reported missing from Biloela since Sunday The media and public are thanked for their assistance Police are appealing for public assistance to locate a 13-year-old boy reported missing from Biloela since Sunday He was last seen by family in the vicinity of Kariboe Street around 5pm Police and family are concerned for the boy’s welfare as his disappearance is out of character Anyone with information is urged to contact police Report crime information anonymously via Crime Stoppers. Call 1800 333 000 or report online at www.crimestoppersqld.com.au Call Policelink on 131 444 and quote the reference number Local Sites Subscribe to myPolice Rockhampton Answers submitted on this optional form will be used only to send you the newsletter you request. We will not give this information to third parties without your consent, unless required by law.More information about privacy Share Missing Persons Recruiting Priya and Nades Murugappan and their daughters Kopika and Tharnicaa pose for a photo after arriving at the Thangool Aerodrome on June 10 Inset: Priya's 2023 memoir 'Back to Biloela' Credit: Dan Peled/Getty Images and Allen & Unwin to Perth and back: A timeline of the Nadesalingam family's journey Locals launch a desperate bid to prevent Tamil family's deportation from Australia 'Please no more': Back in Biloela Priya Nadesalingam calls for detention centre closures Australia's indefinite detention has been ruled unlawful 6 min readPublished 14 November 2023 4:37pm fun and practical.Get the latest with our exclusive in-language podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.SBSTamil News Family ecstatic to be back in small Queensland town that fought so hard to free them The Nadesalingam family has finally touched down in Biloela more than four years after they were taken from their home by the Australian Border Force As the family walked out of Thangool airport on Friday Priya dropped to her knees and kissed the ground Supporters sobbed as they hugged the family and handed Tharnicaa and Kopika two toy cockatoos The Tamil family have become perhaps the most famous example of Australia’s harsh treatment of asylum seekers Given 10 minutes to pack before being removed from their home by border force agents in a 5am raid in March 2018 they were moved to immigration detention in Melbourne Emotional scenes as the Nadesalingam family arrive at Thangool aerodrome. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The GuardianIn 2019, an attempt to deport the family to Sri Lanka was halted by a last-minute court injunction – their plane was stopped in Darwin and they were moved to the detention centre on Christmas Island where they spent two years. Last year the family was moved to Perth after Tharnicaa contracted sepsis and required urgent medical attention. Three members of the family were granted year-long visas, but were forced to remain in Perth as Tharnicaa was required to remain in detention. In May, the interim home affairs minister, Jim Chalmers, granted the family bridging visas, allowing them to leave community detention in Perth and return to their home in Biloela, but still not guaranteeing their status on Australian shores. Read moreNearly 600,000 people signed Home to Bilo campaigner Angela Fredericks’ Change.org petition in support of the family and more than 53,000 phone calls and emails were made to Australian politicians from the family’s supporters across the country a friend of the family and co-founder of the Home to Bilo campaign said the family’s return showed that “love conquered all” and that you should “never underestimate the power of the people” said it was the first time in the past four years that the girls had been calm and content on a flight Biloela locals have campaigned for four years to bring the Nadesalingam family home after they were removed in 2018 by border force Photograph: Mike Bowers/The GuardianFredericks thanked the small town of Biloela who she said had “opened up” their “arms for the family” “Australians have shown that we care … Australians have shown that we can unite and we can ignore the narrative of fear and division and we can come together as one,” she said Priya and Nades Nadesalingam fled Sri Lanka by boat over a decade ago Priya said detention had been “mentally stressful” for the girls and their “health” was “no good” While the family has not yet been granted permanent protection told Guardian Australia he’s receiving advice to ensure the family has “every opportunity to rebuild their lives in Biloela with a sense of certainty” The newly minted government has said it will abolish temporary protection visas paving the way for 19,000 others to be granted permanent protection Tharnicaa Nadesaligam will celebrate her fifth birthday on Sunday Photograph: Mike Bowers/The GuardianBarathan Vidhyapathy an organiser from the Tamil Refugee Council said the family has been through “unimaginable cruelty” “There are many Tamil people in similar situations,” he said on Friday “They live in fear of being in deportation We know that Sri Lanka is not safe for Tamils.” Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning the family will attend Biloela’s multicultural Flourish festival – which is expected to attract 1,000 extra attendees to welcome the family home – before celebrating Tharnicaa’s fifth birthday on Sunday “Landing here has given me a lot of hope for my girls … with safe and happy lives,” Priya said please let us live us here permanently … let our girls have hope in their future.” own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment University of Canberra provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU View all partners The Tamil “Biloela” family has been granted permanent residency by the Albanese government. Immigration Minister Andrew Giles announced on Friday he had used his ministerial power to intervene to give visas to the family to allow them to stay permanently. For the Nadesalingam family, whose cause was taken up by the Biloela community where they had settled, it is the end of a battle that involved years of detention, including on Christmas Island, court action and uncertainty. The parents came to Australia separately by boat, met and married here, and their two daughters, Kopika and Tharnicaa, were born in Australia. But their refugee claims were rejected, and they were put into detention after their visas expired in 2018. One of the first acts of the Labor government was to allow the family to return to the Queensland town. A team from the Home Affairs department visited the family to tell them personally of the decision. Giles said Labor had promised before the election that it would allow the family to return to Biloela and would resolve their immigration status. “Today, the government has delivered on that promise,” he said. He said the decision “follows careful consideration of the Nadesalingam family’s complex and specific circumstances”. He also sent a strong message designed to tell people smugglers not to take the decision as a signal. Since the change of government several boats have been intercepted from Sri Lanka and the people returned. “During the past two months, the government has demonstrated we will continue to intercept and return any unauthorised vessels seeking to reach Australia, ” Giles said. “For anyone who attempts to migrate via an unauthorised boat to Australia – you will be caught, returned or sent to a regional processing country. "This government remains committed to Operation Sovereign Borders and stopping people smuggling.” But shadow home affairs minister Karen Andrews said “actions have consequences and this sets a high profile precedent. "It undermines the policy that if you come here illegally you will never settle in Australia,” she said. with a Labor win meaning the family will now able to return home to Biloela.The Tamil family fighting for years to return to the Queensland town of Biloela are set to be allowed to go home under the new Labor government Why the fate of Biloela's Murugappan family rests on the outcome of the federal election 'No protection owed' to Biloela's Murugappan family ShareGet SBS News daily and direct to your InboxSign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.Your email address *Morning (Mon–Fri) Minister says activists are trying to bully government in asylum seeker fight that has cost taxpayers ‘millions of dollars’ Peter Dutton has referred to the two children of the Biloela Tamil family as “anchor babies” and blamed them for costing taxpayers millions of dollars in incendiary comments defending the government’s decision to deport the family In an interview on Thursday the home affairs minister echoed anti-immigrant rhetoric from the United States, borrowing a term used by Donald Trump to justify a plan to end birth-right citizenship the Greens and refugee activists are attempting to “bully” the Morrison government into allowing the family to stay Labor has already emphatically rejected the label, arguing that it wants Dutton to allow Priya, Nadesalingam and their two Australian-born children Kopika, 4, and Tharunicaa, 2, to remain in Australia because they have been accepted by the community of Biloela in regional Queensland. Read moreDutton told 2GB radio the family’s case has cost taxpayers “literally millions of dollars” because refugee advocates are “armed with pro bono lawyers” who were able to get a federal court injunction while the plane had stopped in Darwin en route to Sri Lanka “It’s frustrating because … it’s been very clear to them at every turn that they were not going to stay in Australia so-called: the emotion of trying to leverage a migration outcome based on the children “I regret to say I don’t think this will be dealt with quickly I think it will go on now for potentially a couple of months because lawyers will try and delay They think if they delay they can keep the pressure on the government and we’ll change our mind in relation to this case.” The case is listed at the federal court in Melbourne on Wednesday Dutton claimed the case was being used by people smugglers to promote boat journeys to Australia and targeted Labor for alleged inconsistency by seeking discretion in this case but not 6,000 other asylum seeker families in Australia “I don’t know if you say yes to this family how you can say no to the 6,000 families behind,” he said “As soon as you allow those people smugglers to get back into control the families and faces you won’t see will be [those of] the people that go to the bottom of the ocean again.” Last week the opposition spokeswoman on home affairs accusing the government of importing an “American debate about so-called anchor babies” due to Dutton’s frequent references to the parents choosing to have children in Australia But Keneally told Radio National: “The law is very different in the United States where citizenship is accorded to anybody born on American soil “That is not the law in Australia … The issue here … is that the Biloela community have integrated them into the fabric of their community It’s not simply the act of having a child.” In March Dutton claimed accepting refugees and asylum seekers would result in the displacement of Australians seeking medical care claims rejected by doctors administering new medical evacuation laws the Coalition is attempting to repeal On Friday the former prime minister Tony Abbott praised the far-right prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, and warned a conference in Europe about “military age” male immigrants “swarming” the continent. CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) Detention of Tamil family denounced as ‘morally disgraceful and obscenely expensive’ as visa case for Australian-born daughter remains locked in federal court Keeping the Tamil family from Biloela in detention on Christmas Island has cost $1.4m in the last year alone with the total cost to the government of attempting to deport the parents and their two children surpassing $6m In figures provided in response to Senate estimates questions on notice from Greens senator and immigration spokesman Nick McKim, the Department of Home Affairs confirmed the cost of detaining the family on Christmas Island between 30 August 2019 and 31 October 2020 was $3.9m. The department said in October 2019 the total cost for detention for the family in Melbourne and Christmas Island was $2.5m, meaning the last year on Christmas Island has cost $1.4m. Read moreThe legal costs incurred by the federal government increased by $100,000 in the past year to $402,100 The family remains in detention on Christmas Island awaiting the outcome of a complex federal court case over whether Tharunicaa was denied procedural fairness over her application for a visa The rest of the family have exhausted their appeals In April last year, Justice Mark Moshinsky ruled that Tharunicaa had been denied procedural fairness, but the federal government has appealed Until the outcome of the appeal is determined the family will remain in detention indefinitely The family can only leave their accommodation to take Kopika to school on the island and those trips must be authorised by Australian Border Force at least two days in advance They cannot visit friends on Christmas Island and they are escorted by security guards at all times “When [Kopika] goes to school, she is very happy but when she comes home, she’s really unhappy,” Priya told Guardian Australia in December. McKim told Guardian Australia the ongoing detention of the family was reprehensible. “It is morally disgraceful and obscenely expensive. This is a family who were building a life in Biloela and contributing to their community. They were much loved and should be allowed to return home immediately,” he said. “It just shows that nothing will stop this government in its pursuit of arbitrary cruelty.” Read moreThe family had been the only detainees on Christmas Island for more than a year, before the government began using the centre to house migrants who have had their visas revoked for committing crimes Some 225 people awaiting deportation were housed in a separate part of the centre at the end of November On Tuesday evening, detainees set fire to buildings and rioted over conditions at the centre Mary Anne Kenny has previously received sitting fees from the Department of Home Affairs University of South Australia and Murdoch University provide funding as members of The Conversation AU the image of a small girl in a hospital bed crying as her big sister gives her a kiss flooded social media feeds The girls are Tharunicaa and Kopika Murugappan, the only two children in immigration detention in Australia The photo was released by advocates as three-year-old Tharunicaa was medically evacuated to Perth on Monday evening. She had reportedly been unwell for ten days with high temperatures as her family called for more medical help On Tuesday, family supporter Angela Fredericks told reporters It looks like they have said she has untreated pneumonia that led to a blood infection While the government denies there were treatment delays it has once again raised the plight of the Tamil family her parents Priya and Nades and her sister have been in detention on Christmas Island since August 2019 This followed a Department of Home Affairs attempt to deport the family from a detention centre in Melbourne to Sri Lanka. The deportation was interrupted mid-flight after an urgent injunction from the Federal Court and the family was taken to immigration detention on Christmas Island This came after the family had initially settled in the Queensland town of Biloela. Residents welcomed the family and have been actively campaigning for them to come “home to Bilo” The family has been engaged in legal appeals since 2012 Tharunicaa’s father and mother are both Sri Lankan nationals who arrived in Australia by boat in 2012 and 2013 respectively they are considered in law to be “unlawful maritime arrivals.” Although Tharunicaa and six-year-old Kopika were born in Australia they are also “unlawful maritime arrivals” Both parents applied for visas claiming they would be persecuted if they returned to Sri Lanka. Kopika was included in their application. But they were refused and appeals to tribunals courts and the immigration minister were not successful the family’s applications did not include Tharunicaa Current legal action centres around the obligations of the government to consider whether she can apply for a visa in Australia As Tharunicaa is an “unlawful maritime arrival” she cannot apply for a visa unless the Home Affairs Minister (Andrews) personally intervenes Lawyers argue she has a strong claim for protection based on a range of factors including: the extensive media coverage of the family the family’s Tamil ethnicity and their “purported” connections to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil Tigers) the court also found the immigration minister did not have an obligation to allow her to apply for a visa The ongoing litigation means the family will not be removed from Australia any time soon But it is not clear whether the family or the government will take the next step and go to the High Court According to media reports, Tharunicaa had been unwell for ten days and did not get hospital access until this week, despite her families’ requests. As Priya said in a statement it took a long time for her to get to the hospital On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Department of Home Affairs denied there had been any treatment delays The minor has been receiving medical treatment and daily monitoring on Christmas Island consistent with medical advice This has included an IHMS general practitioner and the Christmas Island Hospital As soon as the ABF was advised by the treating medical practitioners that the minor required medical treatment in Western Australia the minor was transferred to a hospital in Western Australia The Australian Border Force strongly denies any allegations of inaction or mistreatment of individuals in its care Health professionals have long warned of the difficulties of placing vulnerable people in remote locations such as Christmas Island there is poorer access to specialist and complex services In 2018, a Queensland coroner found delays in diagnosing and removing Iranian asylum seeker Hamid Kehazaei from Manus Island directly contributed to his death from septicaemia Tharunicaa has come to Perth with her mother, while her her father and sister have been left on Christmas Island. Last year, Priya was brought to Perth for treatment of an abdominal condition and had to leave the family behind This is a grave concern. There is a substantial body of evidence regarding child trauma to suggest that forced involuntary separation from family will have lasting mental health effects The splitting up of the family will almost certainly compound existing trauma Andrews, as the senior minister responsible, is under increasing public pressure to do more for the family Dutton has previously said the reason the family was detained on Christmas Island and not the mainland was that it would allow them to be flown back to Sri Lanka without protesters putting Border Force officers in a “difficult position.” Due to their status as “unlawful maritime arrivals,” only Andrews or Immigration Minister Alex Hawke have the power to allow them to live in the community. This can either be on Christmas Island or on the mainland on bridging visas or in community detention. Andrews recently said she was taking advice on whether she would allow them to live in the community on Christmas Island On Tuesday she added the government was “investigating a range of resettlement options” The minister can grant any detainee a visa if they consider it to be in the “public interest” to do so The published guidelines on the exercise of this power states Andrews can grant a visa if a person has particular needs that cannot be properly cared for in a secured detention facility In 2013, we were involved in a case with then immigration minister, Scott Morrison. He intervened to release a woman with intellectual disabilities into the community with her family, stating that this was necessary due to her immediate mental health and welfare needs The health and welfare of Tharunicaa — at the very least — provides a clear reason to release the family from detention Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time Tharnicaa Nadesalingam has celebrated her fifth birthday in her hometown of Biloela four years after being detained under the previous Coalition government cake and overwhelming joy set the tone as locals gathered at a nearby park to celebrate after “Tharni” and her family returned to the Queensland outback town on the weekend Tharnicaa Nadesalingam celebrates her fifth birthday with her parents Priya and Nades and her sister Kopika in Biloela.Credit: Getty everyone’s just got the biggest grins on their faces,” social worker and Biloela local Angela Fredericks said “When the family arrived and they walked down the girls had little tiaras on and the birthday girl had a sash and they wore pretty pink dresses that’s when it hit that this is what we’ve been fighting for for them to be able to walk to their local park here you know have the stereotypical birthday in the park Tharnicaa Nadesalingam plays a game during her fifth birthday party in Biloela.Credit: Getty The festive scene was a welcome contrast to last year when little Tharni was forced to spend her birthday in Perth Children’s Hospital where she was being treated for sepsis caused by untreated pneumonia She beamed alongside her parents Nades and Priya as she and her older sister Kopika were presented with a large cake decorated in pink and yellow “We had a lovely big slab cake that was for both girls because we missed four years of birthdays “Then we had a beautiful pink cake that had a little koala on top as well Ms Fredericks launched the online petition to bring the Tamil asylum seekers home four years ago after they were removed by Border Force officials in March 2018 She said the family is overwhelmed with the outpouring of support “They’re just getting more and more relaxed each day,” she said “They were so overwhelmed with all the love and support over this weekend They’ve seen it all in one place and so I think that’s been incredibly overwhelming that they just feel so incredibly grateful.” Strangers have been cheering “welcome home” and hugging them after their four-year nightmare came to an end “You can just see we’ve touched every corner of the community,” Ms Fredericks said Refugee organisation People Just Like Us is now calling for all refugees and asylum seekers on bridging visas to be given permanent protection “It is a story that resonates with warm Australians on a deep human We feel proud to be generous and compassionate,” said Fabia Claridge Priya and Nades arrived by boat in Australia as asylum seekers fleeing the civil war in Sri Lanka the federal government attempted to deport them before an 11th-hour court injunction saw the four held at the Christmas Island detention centre for two years They were then moved to community detention in Perth before the newly minted Labor government intervened when they came into power last month and gave them bridging visas The family are seeking permanent residency, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese seeing “no impediment” to it being granted Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter here cake and overwhelming joy set the tone as locals gathered at a nearby park to celebrate after \\u201CTharni\\u201D and her family returned to the Queensland outback town on the weekend everyone\\u2019s just got the biggest grins on their faces,\\u201D social worker and Biloela local Angela Fredericks said \\u201CWhen the family arrived and they walked down that\\u2019s when it hit that this is what we\\u2019ve been fighting for This is what we\\u2019re fighting for.\\u201D when little Tharni was forced to spend her birthday in Perth Children\\u2019s Hospital \\u201CWe had a lovely big slab cake that was for both girls because we missed four years of birthdays for Kopika as well,\\u201D Ms Fredericks said \\u201CThen we had a beautiful pink cake that had a little koala on top as well That was at Tharnica\\u2019s request.\\u201D \\u201CThey\\u2019re just getting more and more relaxed each day,\\u201D she said \\u201CThey were so overwhelmed with all the love and support over this weekend They\\u2019ve seen it all in one place and so I think that\\u2019s been incredibly overwhelming that they just feel so incredibly grateful.\\u201D Strangers have been cheering \\u201Cwelcome home\\u201D and hugging them after their four-year nightmare came to an end \\u201CYou can just see we\\u2019ve touched every corner of the community,\\u201D Ms Fredericks said \\u201CIt is a story that resonates with warm Australians on a deep human We feel proud to be generous and compassionate,\\u201D said Fabia Claridge They were then before the newly minted Labor government intervened when they came into power last month and The family are seeking permanent residency with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese seeing to it being granted Cut through the noise of federal politics with news views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley Former PM said decision on Murugappan family was in immigration minister’s hands despite being sworn in to administer home affairs at the time Scott Morrison falsely suggested he lacked ministerial powers to help the Biloela family while he was sworn in to administer the home affairs department Morrison dead-batted calls to help the Murugappan family claiming he needed to leave the decision to immigration minister The answer flies in the face of Morrison’s claim in the House of Representatives on Wednesday that if he had been asked about his appointment to administer multiple departments he “would have responded truthfully about the arrangements”. Read moreMorrison also claimed in December that he had exercised the power to scuttle the Pep-11 permit to explore for gas off the coast of Newcastle “as prime minister” omitting the fact he had the power to do so because of one of his secret appointments The inquiry by former high court justice Virginia Bell found that several of Morrison’s secret appointments were an “exorbitant” way to overrule his ministers in the event of disagreement about their use of their powers Morrison told the inquiry his reasoning for being appointed to administer the home affairs department related to citizenship cancellation powers “as well as numerous direct ministerial powers under the Migration Act” including visa cancellations and “in relation to visas generally” Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup On 20 May, Morrison was pressed by reporters on the campaign trail in Perth about why the government didn’t use “discretionary powers” to allow the Murugappan family to stay. Morrison said that option “is available … under ministerial intervention”. “And that ministerial intervention is done by the minister, not the prime minister. That’s not what the act provides. “He [Hawke] makes that decision – no, that it’s his decision.” Morrison doubled down, insisting it would be “inappropriate” to discuss the matter with Hawke because “it’s his decision … in the same way it was his decision over Novak Djokovic”. Asked what his decision would be, Morrison replied: “Well, I’m not the minister.” Morrison had been sworn in to administer the home affairs department on 6 May 2021, more than a year earlier. A spokesperson for Morrison said he stood by the accuracy of the claim that “intervention is done by the minister” as “no reference [was] made to powers”. “Morrison was not sworn to hold the office of the minister and was not acting as minister at that time and had not activated any authorities to act.” On Wednesday Morrison told the lower house it was “false” to equate his decision to administer colleagues’ departments with appointments as minister. Free daily newsletterOur Australian morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters Read moreBut he also claimed: “Had I been asked about these matters at the time at the numerous press conferences I held I would have responded truthfully about the arrangements I had put in place.” The spokesperson also denied suggestions this was untruthful: “The question did not relate to what redundancies Mr Morrison had put in place to deal with the administration of departments.” “Mr Morrison’s response addressed who was appropriately and lawfully handling the matter under the Act.” Morrison’s spokesperson said the Biloela case study “is a good example of how the prime minister did not misuse his authorities to administer the department in the ordinary course of events that were being appropriately managed by the minister” Morrison was asked if resources minister Keith Pitt supported the government’s decision to cancel the Pep-11 licence Morrison replied: “It’s a decision of the government and I decided to take the decision as the prime minister and I did this because I wanted to ensure that we took a whole of government understanding of this decision and to take into account all of the factors.” Morrison said he had “methodically worked through the proper process to make the ultimate decision and take all the necessary advice that I had to take and then form a decision” Despite Morrison’s claim he had made the decision “as the prime minister” it was powers he gained on 15 April 2021 to administer the department of industry energy and resources that allowed him to make the decision personally On Wednesday the House of Representatives voted to censure Morrison making him the first former prime minister to be censured and the first MP since former small business minister Bruce Billson in 2018 The leader of the house, Tony Burke moved to censure Morrison for failing to disclose the five appointments “to the House of Representatives which undermined responsible government and eroded public trust in Australia’s democracy” Burke cited those conclusions from the Bell inquiry, released on Friday. The motion passed shortly after noon, 86 votes to 50, despite the Coalition voting against the censure. Morrison said his appointment to the home affairs portfolio was a “dormant redundancy” and accepted it was “unnecessary and that insufficient consideration was given to these decisions at the time, including non-disclosure”. “In relation to a decision to take authority to administer the department of industry, science resources and technology, for the purposes of being able to consider PEP-11, I do not resile from that action. “The authority was lawfully sought and exercised on a specific matter solely. “I considered it unnecessary to dismiss the minister to deal with this matter, as he was doing a fine job, and unlawful to inappropriately pressure him in relation to this decision.”