On Sunday, the #HometoBilo social media pages were flooded with comments wishing Priya ‘Happy Birthday.’ Thank you so much to everyone who left a birthday message!

The only gift Priya and her family need right now is for Immigration Minister Hawke to grant four year old Tharni the same bridging visa as her mum, dad and sister, so they can all come safely home to Biloela.

Today, can you let the coalition candidate for your area know that the safety of our Biloela family will be an important issue for you when you cast your vote? Tap here to find the right e-mail address in seconds.

Priya explained her family’s strong connection to Biloela in an interview with Sydney Morning Herald columnist Peter FitzSimons on Sunday:

“Biloela is our home. And we love the community because they were always friendly people. So we were very lucky to have those people in our lives. It was such a lovely community that there was a quick connection between us and them. They helped give us hope and they are the reason we are still fighting to get back there, to our home.”

She recalled the terrible day guards took her family from their Biloela home:

“It was horrific and terrible. I don’t have the words to put it. You know I was still in my nightdress and my children were still in bed. And 50 people, with police officers, arrived at dawn. And we were put in a vehicle, and they didn’t even allow us to pack or change. I was put in police car, in my nightdress. It was horrific. They treated us very badly and without humanity. We couldn’t even get a bottle for the baby, or a change of clothes.”

And she gave her best answer to the question we’re all asking: Why are Mr Morrison’s Minister’s continuing to ignore the majority of Australians - including Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce and five other government MPs - who want to see Priya and her family come safely home to Biloela?

“It was never about us. It was about the government staying in power … I think they are holding us back to justify what they have done to us so far, destroying my children’s hope,” Priya said.

It’s horrifying to think anyone could see the cruelty Mr Morrison’s Ministers are showing in stopping Priya and her family coming safely home to Biloela as a way to stay in power.

But there will always be politicians who work to bring us together with hope and those who try to divide us with fear.

Today, please help show you are on the side of hope, by sending a quick e-mail to your coalition candidate telling them that Priya, Nades, Kopi and Tharni must be allowed to come safely home to Biloela now.

With hope,

Angela

PS If you missed Priya’s interview on Sunday, you can read it here.

Authorised by Angela Fredericks, Biloela QLD