Friends, your phone calls, letters and e-mails got Priya, Nades, Kopi and Tharni off Christmas Island by persuading six government MPs to publicly speak up for this beautiful family.
Today, as Parliament sits in Canberra, I urgently need your help - please, can you give your government MP or Senator a call and let them know you haven’t forgotten about this family? Let me explain why.
Ministers Alex Hawke and Karen Andrews are withholding a visa which would release four-year-old Tharni from “community detention” in Perth. This is how the politicians are stopping her whole family getting home to the safety of Biloela.
When the temporary visas Minister Hawke issued to her Mum, Dad and sister run out in exactly 50 days, the guards could come and put Tharni and her family back in detention - or force them from Australia to danger, just as they have tried to do three times before.
I’ve heard Priya and Nades’ stories. I’ve seen the fear in their eyes when they speak about the dangers they escaped before finding peace and safety in Biloela. And I know that as parents, their greatest fear is for the safety of their two beautiful, QLD-born daughters.
The politicians tried to put up a smokescreen by telling the media that they can’t step in while our family is challenging their unfair treatment through the courts.
But the truth is that under Australian law, the Ministers’ power to issue visas is beyond the reach of any court - that’s why they’re often called the “god powers”.
Knowing what I know about the terrible things that happen to Tamil people like Priya, Nades, Kopi and Tharni in Sri Lanka, I can’t let the politicians force this family from Australia to danger.
Please, can you tap here to call your government MP today? If your MP is not part of the government, please tap here to call your government Senators instead.
When my husband Alan and I flew from Biloela to Perth at the end of June, we were ready to bring this family back home with us to Biloela.
The local meatworks is still desperate for hard workers like Nades. I even told Priya we have room at our house while they are finding a place of their own.
With your help, we got this family off Christmas Island. Now, we need to get them #hometobilo, where they are welcome, wanted and needed.
With hope,
Angela
PS Thank you to everyone who has asked how Priya, Nades and the girls are. I thought the best way to show you was to share this video from our trip to Perth. Please know that the family aren’t alone and have all of their practical needs met - the help they need right now is for everyone to pick up the phone and ring their local MP or government Senators.