Three-year-old Kopika remembers singing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star at her Biloela playgroup. Now, the sound of her friends singing to her on Facetime makes her cry. Please, can you help me bring this beautiful family home to Bilo by chipping in to our emergency legal fund?
On Saturday, over 300,000 Queenslanders woke up to this heart-breaking story in Qweekend, the Courier-Mail’s weekend magazine.
Across four pages and 4,000 words, “A Town Like Bilo” finally tells the full story of our year-long battle to bring Priya, Nades, Kopika, Tharunicaa home to Biloela.
This is a huge media breakthrough. But with Kopika and her family still in detention, I can’t rest.
Tomorrow, Priya’s wonderful legal team need to take the next step in the long and complex process of taking Priya and Kopika’s case to the High Court.
It’s impossible to predict legal costs precisely. But as I write this, our emergency legal fund is still $18,219 short of the target we believe we need to reach to make sure Priya can access expert legal support throughout a High Court appeal.
Today, can you please help me to top up Priya’s emergency legal fund?
I’m so grateful to everyone who has already contributed to our crowdfunders over the last year.
With your support, we put up a giant billboard in Peter Dutton’s electorate. We placed a powerful ad on page two of the Courier-Mail.
And on February 2, with just minutes to spare, your support made it possible for Priya’s lawyers to obtain an undertaking from Mr Dutton not to remove Priya and Kopika from Australia while their application to the High Court is pending.
We believe that Mr Dutton has spent around $1.2 million in taxpayers money to keep this beautiful family in detention over the last year.
Meanwhile, our campaign to bring Priya, Nades, Kopika and Tharunicaa home to Biloela is 100% people powered.
I know that many of you have chipped in to help this beautiful family more than once.
On behalf of Priya, Nades, Kopika, Tharunicaa and all of us fighting to bring them #HometoBilo - thank you for being the “stars of hope” in little Kopika’s sky.
With hope,
Angela x
PS If you missed Saturday’s Qweekend cover story, you can still read it online!