We the people of Australia believe that everything possible should be done to retain invaluable community members like Stina Constantine and we ask for ministerial intervention to grant her a visa and Australian citizenship. Australia has so much to gain, if we are to hold on to this uniquely selfless and uplifting community member. She should not be asked to leave Australia due to an error made by her educational institution. Stina has done everything right. This should be fixed with the simple stroke of a pen, but we now need your help in the fight to keep her here.

Thank you for your consideration, Honourable Mr Alex Hawke. This petition is to compliment the ministerial intervention process by demonstrating the community support to keep Stina in Australia.

Help Stina Continue to Support Children with Cancer

· Much-loved New South Wales Charity Social Worker and former Miss Wagga Wagga, Stina Constantine is facing wrongful deportation

· Stina works intimately with families through Country Hope, a charity for children suffering from cancer and other life-threatening illnesses

· She is being wrongfully deported due to her educational institution’s administrative error (The institution has amended details since the deportation ruling)

· Stina needs Honourable Mr Alex Hawke to exercise his powers of ministerial intervention

Our beautiful Stina Constantine is being wrongfully deported and needs our help to continue her life-changing work, supporting high-conflict families and their children at Relationships Australia and through local charity, Country Hope. Country Hope provides family-centred support services to country children diagnosed with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. These children and their families rely on Stina’s continued support to face the difficult challenges they experience each day. Stina provides families with the strength to deal with their illness mentally, emotionally and financially.

Stina builds a very close relationship with her families and they rely on her immensely. The news that Stina has to leave the local community and Australia will have a devastating impact.

Stina grew up as an Aussie. She spent most of her life in Australia and completed high school in Wagga. Her family then returned home to Norway, but Stina felt a deep connection to Australia and decided to make Wagga Wagga her permanent home.

In an age of Instagram influencers and blatant self-promotion, selfless Stina really is something special. She is hard-working and delightfully enchanting. She displays a commitment to her town and country that is nothing short of exemplary. Stina took part in the Miss Wagga Wagga Quest in 2018, where she had to demonstrate her dedication to the local community through service and fundraising. Stina won, and became an ambassador for the city, as Miss Wagga Wagga 2019. She was also entrusted to represent the city, and Australia, in an international trip to Nordlingen, where she shared Australian values and extended the hand of friendship to the German sister city. She continues to be a community leader, and ironically, was proud to be invited to host the local Australia Day Citizenship Ceremony in 2020 and 2021. She hopes to make her own citizenship pledge one day soon.

Two weeks after being appointed as Wagga Wagga City’s ambassador, Stina received news from the Immigration Department that her visa was denied and she had 30 days to leave the country. Her educational institution made an error when submitting her date of course completion, which resulted in it appearing as though she had failed to make her subsequent visa application within the required 6 months of completing studies. In actual fact, Stina was within the timeframe to make her application for her next visa. It should have been a straightforward application. Due to the date error, her claim was denied. The institution has since amended the date, however, the previous ruling stands.

Stina has been forced to mount an application to the Federal Circuit Court to appeal her deportation ruling. She is faced with extensive court costs and legal representation fees, that she simply cannot afford. She continues to serve the local community through her role as former Miss Wagga, along with vulnerable families through her vital social work. The community simply can’t afford to lose her!

We don’t want to let that happen and that’s where you come in! Please share Stina’s story with your network and help us petition to keep her in Australia. Let’s do everything we can to hold on to this treasured member of the community.

Please sign and share this petition today.