The 19 media releases I wrote for Home to Bilo helped local spokespeople secure extensive, positive media coverage during the first year of the campaign.
Highlights included Home to Bilo's first appearances on The Project and Q&A, a 4,000 word cover story in The Courier Mail's weekend magazine, and a favourable interview and editorial on 2GB's Alan Jones Show.
Melbourne, 1 May 2018: A welcoming flock of “cockatoos” will descend on Melbourne’s legal precinct tomorrow morning, as lawyers for a Queensland family fearing forced removal to Sri Lanka appear before the Federal Circuit Court.
Supporters of Tamil couple Priya and Nades, and their two Australian-born children, will gather in the Flagstaff Gardens with dozens of cardboard cockatoos and spell out the words “WELCOME TO BILOELA” in giant yellow letters.
Family friend Angela Fredericks, who has travelled from the central Queensland town of Biloela to support the family, will address the gathering.
Priya, Nades, their two year old daughter Kopika and 10 month old baby Tharunicaa were detained by Border Force officers during an early morning raid on their Biloela home on 5 March.
The family have been kept in a Melbourne immigration detention centre since last minute legal action saw them removed from a plane at Perth Airport, minutes before an attempted deportation.
A change.org petition calling on Immigration Minister Peter Dutton to return the family to Biloela has attracted over 96,000 signatures.
WHEN:
8.00am, Wednesday 2 May
WHAT:
Supporters carrying dozens of colourful cardboard cockatoos and large photographic portraits of Priya, Nades, Kopika and Tharunicaa will spell out “WELCOME TO BILOELA” in giant yellow letters.
Family friend and Biloela resident Angela Fredericks and Tamil Refugee Council spokesperson Aran Mylvaganam will be available for interview.
WHERE:
Flagstaff Gardens, Melbourne, near corner of La Trobe and William Streets
Melbourne, 2 May 2018: Supporters of a Queensland family fearing forced removal to Sri Lanka have called on Immigration Minister Peter Dutton to release the family from detention in time for the third birthday of their Australian-born daughter, Kopika.
Family friend Angela Fredericks will address supporters of the Tamil family at the Flagstaff Gardens this morning as the family’s lawyers appear before the Federal Circuit Court in Melbourne.
Ms Fredericks, who has travelled from Biloela in central Queensland to support the family, said she is “gravely concerned” for the family’s welfare.
“Regardless of what happens in court, we are calling on Mr Dutton to exercise his discretionary powers to allow this family to return to their home in Biloela in time for Kopika’s third birthday on the 12th of May”, Ms Fredericks said.
Priya, Nades, their two year old daughter Kopika and 10 month old baby Tharunicaa were detained by Border Force officers during an early morning raid on their Biloela home on 5 March.
The family have been kept in a Melbourne immigration detention centre since last minute legal action saw them removed from a plane at Perth Airport, minutes before an attempted deportation.
Tamil Refugee Council spokesperson Aran Mylvaganam expressed fears that the early morning raid was a “test case” for the removal of an estimated 1,300 Tamil asylum seekers whose pleas for safety have gone unrecognised.
“The culture of reprisal in the Sri Lankan security forces runs deep. Returned Tamils, particularly those associated with the LTTE, face dangers that have been well documented by the UN and human rights groups”, Mr Mylvaganam said.
Ms Fredericks said: “Baby Tharunicaa is already showing signs of stress known to affect detained infants. Little Kopika is too young to understand how far she is from home and asks constantly for her Biloela friends.”
“We simply cannot believe that anyone could allow these two, beautiful Australian-born girls to be forced back to a country which is not only unsafe, but completely foreign to them”, Ms Fredericks said.
Photo and interview opportunity:
Angela Fredericks and Aran Mylvaganam will address supporters carrying dozens of colourful cardboard cockatoos and large photographic portraits of Priya, Nades, Kopika and Tharunicaa, at the Flagstaff Gardens at 8am today.
Biloela, 12 May 2018: Friends and neighbours of a Queensland Tamil family will hold a 3rd birthday party for detained, Australian-born toddler Kopika in Biloela Lions Park today.
Kopika, her 10 month old baby sister Tharunicaa and parents Priya and Nades have been kept in a Melbourne detention centre since an early morning raid on their Biloela home on 5 March.
Family friend Angela Fredericks said that the family’s friends and neighbours are holding the birthday party to make sure that Kopika will always know how much she is wanted and loved by the town where she was born.
“As every parent knows, first and second birthdays are really a celebration for friends and family, but most three year olds are overwhelmed with the excitement of their own special day.”
“In detention, Kopika has no other children to play with other than her baby sister. If immigration officers do allow a cake, it must be a commercial product in a sealed, date-stamped package. Birthday candles are banned on safety grounds.”
Ms Fredericks called on Immigration Minister Peter Dutton to stage a last minute intervention and allow Kopika’s family to return to Biloela.
“Australian law gives Mr Dutton the power to intervene in any case. All he needs to do is put compassion above politics,” Ms Fredericks said.
“If he can send 20 officers into our town, take a family from their home at 5am and ship them to the other side of the country, surely he can bring a little girl home in time for her 3rd birthday.”
Ms Fredericks said that the prospect of spending Kopika’s birthday in detention presented Priya and Nades with “a heartbreaking dilemma that no Mum or Dad should have to endure.”
“The saddest thing is that it may be kinder for Priya and Nades not to tell Kopika just how much love her town has for her on her special day.”
“But we still need to do this to make sure that no matter what happens in future, Kopika will always know that she comes from a town that loves her and wants her.”
Brisbane, Thursday 17 May: Residents of the central Queensland town of Biloela will travel 550km to hand-deliver a petition calling on Immigration Minister Peter Dutton to return a Sri Lankan family to their town tomorrow.
The change.org petition has attracted over 98,000 signatures since Tamil couple Priya and Nades and their two Australian-born daughters were removed from their home and taken into detention in Melbourne, following a dawn raid in March.
Angela Fredericks, a friend of Sri Lankan Tamils Priya and Nades, and their two Australian-born children, will travel from Biloela to deliver the petition to Mr Dutton’s electorate office in Strathpine.
Simone Cameron, a former Biloela resident who has visited and supported the family following their detention in Melbourne, will travel from Melbourne to ask Mr Dutton’s office to deliver a toy for three-year-old Kopika and flowers for her mother, Priya.
WHAT:
Representatives of Biloela QLD will deliver a 98,000 signature petition, flowers and a child’s toy to Mr Dutton’s electorate office.
WHERE:
Shop 3, 199 Gympie Road, Strathpine QLD
WHEN:
Friday 18th May 11:30am
22 May 2018: Supporters of a Queensland family taken from their home in a dawn raid have slammed the Australian Border Force Commissioner’s claim that his officers carry out their duties “with dignity”.
Appearing before the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee on Monday night, freshly sworn-in ABF Commissioner Michael Outram said that officials were obligated to detain Tamils Priya, Nades and their two Australian-born children ”with dignity, of course”.
Family friend Angela Fredericks said that Mr Outram’s suggestion that Border Force officers had treated the family with dignity was “completely off the planet”.
“I would like to ask Mr Outram this: Where is the dignity in having twenty officers raid your family home at 5am, giving you 10 minutes to pack up your life?” Ms Fredericks said
“Where is the dignity in your baby taking her first steps in a detention? Where is the dignity in your toddler spending her third birthday behind razor wire?”
Mr Outram told the Committee that the reason the family was detained one day after Priya’s visa expired was “presumably because they were determined to be unlawful non-citizens”.
Asked by Greens Senator Nick McKim why backpackers who overstayed their visa are not subject to the same treatment, Mr Outram responded: “Well, because we don’t have the 64,600 officers to go out and detain all the people who are unlawful at any given point in time”.
“Mr Outram could not give a satisfactory explanation for why this loved and valued family is being targeted and treated in this manner,” Ms Fredericks said.
“Instead of admitting a terrible mistake has been made, he basically said that the only thing stopping him from putting backpackers into detention is lack of staff.”
Ms Fredericks disputed claims by ABF Assistant Commissioner Vanessa Holben that the family’s health, medical and support needs were being met in the Melbourne detention centre where they are held.
“The mental health and well-being of this family has not been maintained,” Ms Fredericks said.
“The children did not eat for over a week due to the disruption to their diet, and their Biloela supporters have to travel 1,800km just to visit them for two hours.”
Biloela, 29 May 2018: Supporters of a Queensland Tamil family detained for 85 days following a Border Force raid have called for their immediate release after Liberal Senator Jim Molan agreed to bring the town’s concerns to immigration Minister Peter Dutton on ABC’s Q&A program last night.
Biloela residents Marie Austin and Margot MacNeil asked the Q&A panel what more they could do to secure the safe return of Tamil’s Priya and Nades and their two Australian-born daughters, Kopika and Tharunicaa.
“Our town loves this little family and we want them to come home”, Ms Austin told Q&A.
“What more could we do to ensure Priya, Nades, Kopika and Tharunicaa return home to Biloea?”
“They sound like a lovely, lovely family and God bless you for looking after them,” Senator Molan told the Q&A audience.
“The migrants that come to our country and particularly move into small country towns are worth their weight in gold and we’ve got to support them.”
“I hope that your good family comes back - if there is no technical issue - that they come back to Biloela.”
When pressed by Q&A host Tony Jones, Senator Molan said he would “absolutely” present the family’s case to Mr Dutton.
"I'm very happy to do that. Very happy to do that," Senator Molan said.
Anglican Minister Fr Rod Bower called for the release of the family into the community while their case was considered.
"Their mental health will now be affected. Their mental health will start to deteriorate and especially the kids,” Fr Bower told the Q&A audience.
"There is no reason that anyone seems to be aware of that this can't be processed in the community."
Family friend Angela Fredericks welcomed Senator Molan’s comments and called Mr Dutton to release the family into the community while their ongoing status was resolved.
“There is no need for this beautiful family to spend even one more day in detention, when there is a loving community waiting to take them back. We call on Mr Dutton to put compassion above politics and allow Priya, Nades, Kopika and Tharunicaa to return to their Biloela home while a solution is found,” Ms Fredericks said.
20 June 2018: A Queensland family taken from the town of Biloela by Border Force officers will learn whether their plea to remain in Australia will be reconsidered when the Federal Circuit Court hands down a decision in Melbourne tomorrow.
Tamil couple Priya and Nades, and their Australian-born daughters Kopika and Tharunicaa, were detained by Border Force officers during an early morning raid on their Biloela home on 5 March.
Lawyers for the family appeared before Judge Caroline Kirton in the Melbourne Federal Circuit Court on 2 May, following last minute legal action which saw the family removed from a deportation flight minutes before take off.
Judge Kirton’s decision will determine whether the Priya’s plea for protection is returned to the Immigration Assessment Authority for reconsideration.
The town of Biloela has rallied behind the family and a change.org petition calling on Immigration Minister Peter Dutton to return the family to Biloela has attracted over 103,000 signatures.
In May, Liberal Senator Jim Molan promised to take up the family’s case with Mr Dutton after facing questions from Biloela residents on the ABC’s Q&A program.
The family have been held in a Melbourne immigration detention centre for 107 days.
WHEN:
10am, Thursday 21st June
WHAT:
The Federal Circuit Court will decide whether to refer Priya’s case back to the Immigration Assessment Authority.
Family friend and former Biloela resident Simone Cameron will be available for interview.
WHERE:
Melbourne Federal Circuit Court, cnr William and La Trobe Streets, Melbourne
25 August 2018: A Queensland family taken from the town of Biloela in an early morning raid will make a bid for freedom when they appeal to the Federal Court in Melbourne on Monday.
Tamil couple Priya and Nades, and their Australian-born daughters Kopika and Tharunicaa, were detained by Border Force officers during a dawn raid on their Biloela home on 5 March.
The family has been held in a Melbourne detention centre for six months.
The town of Biloela rallied behind the family and a change.org petition calling on former Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton to return the family to Biloela attracted close to 120,000 signatures.
In June, after Border Force moved to deport the family just two days into a 21 day appeal period, the Federal Court ordered the Minister not to remove mother Priya and three year old Kopika from Australia before Monday’s appeal.
In March, a previous deportation attempt was halted when emergency legal action saw the family removed from a plane minutes before take-off.
WHEN:
1.45pm Monday 27th August
WHAT:
The Federal Court will hear an appeal by detained Biloela resident Priya and her daughter Kopika.
Family friend Brad Coath and Tamil Refugee Council spokesperson Avi Selva will be available for interview outside the Court before the hearing.
WHERE:
Federal Circuit of Australia Victoria Registry, cnr William and La Trobe Streets, Melbourne
30 August 2018: Supporters of a Tamil family snatched from a central Queensland town have called for their immediate release from immigration detention following revelations that Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton intervened to halt the deportation of a French nanny after lobbying on behalf of political donors.
Tamil couple Priya and Nades, and their Queensland-born daughters Kopika and Tharunicaa, have been held in detention in Melbourne since Border Force officers raided their Biloela home in March.
Almost 120,000 people have signed a petition calling on Mr Dutton to return the young family to Biloela.
Family friend and former Biloela local Simone Cameron called on Mr Dutton to immediately release the family using the discretionary powers he exercised in the case of 27-year-old nanny and yoga teacher Alexandra Deuwel.
“We travelled 1,800km to support Priya and Nades in detention in Melbourne. We delivered a 120,000 signature petition. Two of us even went on Q&A and convinced Liberal Senator Jim Molan to put our concerns to Mr Dutton.”
“Not only has Mr Dutton ignored our concerns, we’ve had to take emergency legal action to stop him forcing this much-loved family from Australia to danger not once, but twice.”
Ms Cameron expressed sympathy for the 27-year-old French woman at the centre of the scandal.
“I have seen first hand the terrible stress and fear that six months of immigration detention has inflicted on Priya, Nades and their little girls,” Ms Cameron said.
“Although Alexandra was only detained for a short time, it must have been a frightening experience.”
“Biloela is a close-knit community with a proud history of welcoming migrants from all around the world. I would like to think that someone like Alexandra would be welcomed just as warmly as Priya and Nades,” Ms Cameron said.
“I can only imagine how she would feel to learn that the same politician who freed her from detention has kept an Australian-born pre-schooler and baby locked up for over six months.”
4 September, 2018: Residents of the central Queensland town of Biloela have today placed a billboard featuring three metre high “family photos” 500 metres from embattled Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton’s Brisbane electorate office.
The billboard is the town’s latest bid in a six-month effort to bring Tamil couple Priya and Nades and their two Australian-born daughters home to Biloela.
The family has been held in detention in Melbourne since March, when Border Force officers snatched them from their Biloela home in a dawn raid.
The billboard features family photos of Priya, Nades, Kopika and Tharunicaa with the message: Mr Dutton: Please bring this QLD family home to Biloela.
In a nod to the uncertainty surrounding Mr Dutton’s position as Home Affairs Minister, Mr Dutton’s name has been crossed out and a question mark added.
Former Biloela resident Simone Cameron said that the family’s supporters had booked the billboard a month ago and that strikethrough and question mark were a last minute addition after Mr Dutton’s resignation as Home Affairs Minister on August 21.
“When Mr Dutton resigned, Scott Morrison became acting Home Affairs Minister. Then we were told that David Coleman would have responsibility for immigration. Then we learned that Mr Coleman is only a junior Minister reporting to Mr Dutton,” Ms Cameron said.
“We just want to know who is responsible for getting this family out of detention and home to Biloela.”
Ms Cameron said that residents of the town would travel to Brisbane to speak to supporters in Mr Dutton’s electorate of Dickson on Saturday.
“We are only a town of 5,000, but 120,000 people from across Australia have signed our petition calling for Priya, Nades, Kopika and Tharunicaa to be returned to Biloela,” Ms Cameron said.
“If Mr Dutton won’t help, the people in his electorate have a right to know that under his watch, this beautiful Queensland-born toddler and baby and their loving Mum and Dad been locked up 1,800km from home,” Ms Cameron said.
The family’s supporters paid for the billboard on the corner of Gympie Road and Kremzow Road, Strathpine, with a crowdfunder kicked off by “Community Tamil Feasts” in Biloela and Melbourne.
Brisbane, 7 September 2018: Supporters of a Tamil family snatched from the central Queensland town of Biloela will send a delegation to Peter Dutton’s Brisbane electorate tomorrow in an effort to enlist the support of the embattled Home Affairs Minister’s constituents.
Supporters of Priya, Nades and their Queensland-born daughters will gather beneath a billboard featuring three-metre-high “family photos” and the message Mr Dutton, Please bring this QLD family home to Biloela, 500 metres from Mr Dutton’s Strathpine electorate office.
The crowdfunded billboard is the town’s latest effort to secure the return of Priya, Nades, Kopika and Tharunicaa to Biloela after Border Force officers snatched the family from their home in a dawn raid six months ago.
Family friends Marie Austin, Margot Plant, Vashini Nirojan and Chandra Roulston will lead supporters in a silent march from the billboard to Mr Dutton’s Strathpine electorate office.
Ms Austin was the first Australian friend made by Tamil couple, Priya and Nades. Ms Plant was embraced as the “Australian grandmother” of three-year-old Kopika and one-year-old Tharunicaa after they were born in the Biloela Hospital.
In May, Liberal Senator and former Operation Sovereign Borders special envoy Jim Molan agreed to raise the family’s case with Mr Dutton after facing questions from Ms Austin and Ms Plant on the ABC’s Q&A program.
WHAT:
Supporters of Priya, Nades and their Queensland-born daughters will gather beneath a billboard featuring three-metre-high “family photos” of the detained Tamil family.
Family friends bearing dozens of cardboard cockatoos will lead a silent march from the billboard before making speeches outside Mr Dutton’s Strathpine electorate office.
WHERE:
Cnr Gympie Road and Kremzow Road, Strathpine QLD
WHEN:
Saturday 8 September, 9:40am
Brisbane, 8 September 2018: Residents of a Queensland town fighting for the return of a Tamil family taken by Border Force will bring their message to voters in the heart of embattled Home Affairs Minister’s Brisbane electorate today.
Supporters of Priya, Nades and their Queensland-born daughters will gather beneath a billboard featuring three-metre-high “family photos”, 500 metres from Mr Dutton’s Strathpine electorate office.
Family friends Marie Austin, Margot Plant and Vashini Nirojan will then lead a silent march to Mr Dutton’s Strathpine electorate office.
Ms Austin is one of Priya and Nades’ closest Australian friends and Mrs Plant was embraced as the “Australian grandmother” of three-year-old Kopika and one-year-old Tharunicaa after they were born in the Biloela local hospital.
In May, Liberal Senator and former Operation Sovereign Borders special envoy Jim Molan promised to take up the case with Mr Dutton after facing questions from Ms Austin and Ms Plant on the ABC’s Q&A program.
“Biloela is a town of less than 6,000, yet our petition calling for this family’s return has been signed by 120,000 people,” Ms Austin said.
“We’ve made phone calls and written letters. We’ve held vigils and protests. We even hand-delivered our petition to Mr Dutton’s office,” Mrs Austin said.
“And what has he done? Nothing.”
Mrs Plant said she was “shocked” by revelations that Mr Dutton had used his powers of Ministerial discretion to halt the deportation of European au pairs.
“Mr Dutton freed the au pairs from detention as a humanitarian act,” Mrs Plant said.
“But where’s the humanity in locking up two Australian-born toddlers 1,800km from the only home they have ever known?”
Supporters of the family paid for the billboard with a crowdfunder kicked off by “Community Tamil Feasts” in Biloela and Melbourne.
Photo and interview opportunity:
Friends and supporters carrying colourful cardboard cockatoos will gather beneath 12 metre billboard on the corner of Gympie Road and Kremzow Road at 9.40am. Marie Austin, Margot Plant and Vashini Nirojan will be available for interview.
Supporters of detained Biloela family ask Qantas to stand up for refugees
Brisbane, 26 October 2018: Supporters of a Tamil family snatched from the Queensland town of Biloela are calling on Qantas to refuse to fly asylum seekers and refugees against their will.
Biloela resident Angela Fredericks will join shareholders at the Qantas Annual General Meeting in Brisbane this morning as they vote on resolutions to review the national carrier’s involvement in the forced transportation of asylum seekers and refugees.
Priya, Nades and their two Queensland-born daughters, Kopika and Tharunicaa, have been held in a Melbourne detention centre since March, when emergency legal action saw them removed from a deportation flight at Perth Airport.
An online petition calling on Qantas and eleven other airlines to refuse to fly the family against their will has attracted over 15,000 signatures.
Ms Fredericks, who is part of a group of shareholders putting Qantas’ participation in the forced transportation of asylum seekers to the vote at today’s AGM, said that the family’s treatment highlighted the role of commercial and charter airlines in the forced transportation of asylum seekers and refugees.
“Border Force used a charter airline to force this family from central Queensland to Melbourne, Melbourne to Perth and then back to a Melbourne detention centre,” Ms Fredericks said.
“But we know that Border Force also uses Qantas and other commercial airlines to transport asylum seekers like Priya and Nades against their will.”
Ms Fredericks said that Border Force had separated toddler Kopika and baby Tharunicaa from their parents for the forced flight from Gladstone to Melbourne.
“Any parent who has flown with an infant would understand the terror this toddler and baby must have experienced during those first four hours in the air,” Ms Fredericks said.
Ms Fredericks called on Qantas to show “moral leadership” to the aviation industry by publicly ruling out participation in the forced transportation of asylum seekers and refugees.
“Just like Qantas, Kopika and Tharunicaa are Queensland born and bred,” Ms Fredericks said.
“Their Biloela friends would love nothing more than for this beautiful family to fly home to Queensland on a Qantas flight.”
Photo and interview opportunity:
The Qantas shareholder meeting will be held at the Hilton Brisbane, 190 Elizabeth Street Brisbane at 11am.
21 December 2018: A Queensland family snatched from the town of Biloela in March will learn whether their plea to remain in Australia will be reconsidered when the Federal Court hands down a decision in Melbourne at midday today.
But supporters of Tamil couple Priya, Nades and their two Australian-born daughters fear that Border Force will exploit the timing of the decision by moving to deport the family during the Christmas break.
Tamil couple, Priya and Nades and their Australian-born daughters, Kopika and Tharunicaa, have spent the last nine and a half months in a Melbourne detention centre.
Border Force raided the family’s Biloela home in March, one day after Priya’s bridging visa expired. In June, lawyers for the family were forced to seek an injunction to halt the family’s deportation after Border Force issued removal notices to the family one day after a Federal Circuit Court decision.
Biloela resident and family friend Angela Fredericks said that even a favourable decision could see the family detained for many more months as Priya’s plea for protection is re-considered by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
“Kopika and Tharunicaa are Australian born and bred. They should be flying home to Biloela for Christmas,” Ms Fredericks said.
“But there is every chance Border Force could try to force them to a war-torn country they have never known.”
A change.org petition calling on Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton to return the family to Biloela has attracted over 140,000 signatures.
“Mr Dutton had the power to end this family’s ordeal on day one and he still has that power now,” Ms Fredericks said.
“Please, Mr Dutton: listen to the 140,000 Australians that are standing with these two little Queenslanders and their loving mum and dad. Bring them home to Biloela.”
Photo / interview opportunity:
Tamil Refugee spokesperson Aran Mylvaganam and family friend Brad Coath will be available for interview outside the Federal Court, 305 William Street Melbourne at 11.30am (AEST)
Angela Fredericks will be available for interview outside 51 Kariboe Street, Biloela at 11.00am (QLD time)
18 January 2019: Supporters of a Tamil family snatched from the central Queensland town of Biloela will rally in Gladstone, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra tomorrow in an effort to save Priya, Nades and their two Australian-born daughters from deportation to Sri Lanka.
Representatives from Biloela will lead supporters bearing dozens of cardboard cockatoos as they march on the electorate offices of the Federal Member for Flynn, Ken O’Dowd (Gladstone), Immigration Minister David Coleman (Sydney), Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton (Brisbane) and the Melbourne office of the Department of Home Affairs. Supporters will also gather in a Canberra park.
Supporters fear that the family will be issued with deportation notices when a Federal Court order preventing their removal expires on 1st February.
A change.org petition calling on Mr Dutton to return the family to Biloela has attracted over 166,000 signatures.
INTERVIEW AND PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES:
Gladstone: 10am, Lady Nelson Park, cnr Goondoon St & Lord Street, Gladstone
Biloela representative Angela Fredericks will be available for interview
Brisbane: 10am, Pine Rivers Park, cnr Gympie Rd & Kremzor Rd, Strathpine
Biloela representative Margot Plant will be available for interview
Sydney: 10am, Ray McCormack Reserve, cnr MacArthur Ave & Revesby Place, Revesby
Biloela representative Simone Cameron will be available for interview
Melbourne: 9.45am, Parliament Gardens, cnr Nicholson St & Albert St, East Melbourne
Biloela representative Marie Austin will be available for interview
Canberra: 11.30am, Corroboree Park, Paterson Street, Ainslie
19 January 2019: Supporters of a Tamil family snatched from the central Queensland town of Biloela will rally in Gladstone, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra today in an effort to save Priya, Nades and their two Australian-born daughters from deportation to Sri Lanka.
Representatives from Biloela will lead supporters as they march on the electorate offices of the Federal Member for Flynn, Ken O’Dowd (Gladstone), Immigration Minister David Coleman (Sydney), Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton (Brisbane) and the Melbourne office of the Department of Home Affairs. Supporters will also gather in a Canberra park.
The rallies come as the lawyers for the family filed an application for special leave to take Priya’s case to the High Court on Friday afternoon.
Biloela resident and family friend Angela Fredericks called on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to stand by his values and “give Priya, Nades, Kopika and Tharunicaa a fair go”.
“Mr Morrison says that in Australia, there’s a fair go for those who have a go,” Ms Fredericks said.
“After living, volunteering and working in Biloela for over four years, Priya and Nades have had more than a ‘go’ at contributing to the little town that became their home.”
“But instead of getting a fair go, they were taken from their home by Border Force at 5am,” Ms Fredericks said
“Now, in less than two weeks, they could be forced to a war-torn country their Australian-born girls have never known.”
Former Biloela resident and family friend Simone Cameron said she was “stunned” by Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton’s claim that Priya and Nades “were told before they had children that they were not going to settle ever in Australia”.
“Priya was not even allowed to apply for safe haven in Australia until she had been living here for three years. By that time, little Kopika was already one and half,” Ms Cameron said.
“When Mr Dutton got around to making a decision, baby Tharunicaa was well on the way.”
Ms Fredericks called on Immigration Minister David Coleman to use his powers under the Migration Act to intervene in the family’s case on humanitarian grounds.
“I’ve heard Priya and Nades’ stories and I have seen the fear in their eyes,” Ms Fredericks said.
“But at the end of the day, our message for Mr Morrison, Mr Coleman, Mr Dutton and Mr O’Dowd is simple: Biloela wants this family back.”
A Federal Court order preventing the family’s removal from Australia expires on 1st February.
INTERVIEW AND PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES:
Gladstone: 10am, Lady Nelson Park, cnr Goondoon St & Lord Street, Gladstone
Biloela representative Angela Fredericks will be available for interview
Brisbane: 10am, Pine Rivers Park, cnr Gympie Rd & Kremzor Rd, Strathpine
Biloela representative Margot Plant will be available for interview
Sydney: 10am, Ray McCormack Reserve, cnr MacArthur Ave & Revesby Place, Revesby
Biloela representative Simone Cameron will be available for interview
Melbourne: 9.45am, Parliament Gardens, cnr Nicholson St & Albert St, East Melbourne
Biloela representative Marie Austin will be available for interview
Canberra: 11.30am, Corroboree Park, Paterson Street, Ainslie
5 March 2019: Two Australian-born children taken from the central Queensland town of Biloela will appear in a prominent advertisement on page 2 of Queensland’s daily newspaper as they spend their 365th day in detention today.
Border Force officers took Tamil couple Priya and Nades and their infant daughters, Kopika and Tharunicaa into immigration detention during a dawn raid on their Biloela home on 5 March, 2018.
Supporters have waged a year long battle to bring the much loved-family home to Biloela.
Biloela resident and family friend Angela Fredericks said that the family’s supporters crowdfunded the $21,000 ad in Queensland’s Courier-Mail to “expose the lie” that there are no children in detention.
“Just last Friday, Biloela’s Federal Member of Parliament, Ken O’Dowd, shared a blatantly misleading party political ad to his official Facebook page with the comment ‘Zero kids in detention!’", Ms Fredericks said.
The post was deleted from Mr O’Dowd’s facebook page after outraged supporters flooded the Member for Flynn’s page with comments pointing out that his government has been holding two children born in his own electorate in a Melbourne detention centre for the last year.
Ms Fredericks said that while taxpayers were likely to have footed an estimated $1.2 million bill to detain the family, three year old Kopika and 18 month old Tharunicaa had “paid a terrible price for this cruel incarceration.”
“After months of restricted access to fresh fruit and vegetables, both toddlers were left struggling with vitamin deficiencies and dental problems,” Ms Fredericks said.
“A child psychologist has observed signs of behavioural disturbance and disorganised play.”
Ms Fredericks said the family’s supporters hoped to create an “Australia-wide groundswell of love” for the family.
“Over 180,000 Australians have signed a petition calling for this much-loved family to be released from detention,” Ms Fredericks said.
“Today, we’re asking every Queenslander who sees our ad to contact their local MP and demand that Priya, Nades and the girls are brought home Biloela, where they belong.”
Note to editors: A copy of the Courier-Mail advertisement is available at http://bit.ly/2Tas8F0 and a screenshot of Mr O’Dowd’s deleted facebook post (previously at https://www.facebook.com/kodowdmpflynn/posts/2239630689587887) is available at http://bit.ly/2HbNquN
Wednesday 15 May, 2019: Friends and supporters of two Australian-born toddlers confined with their parents in a Melbourne detention centre say they fear the Morrison government could force the family from Australia before this Saturday’s federal election.
The High Court rejected mother Priya and daughter Kopika’s appeal from the Federal Court on Tuesday morning, leaving the family at risk of deportation before the federal election on Saturday 18 May.
Tamil couple Priya and Nades and their Australian-born daughters, Kopika (4) and Tharunicaa (23 months) have been held in the Melbourne Immigration Transit Authority detention facility since Border Force snatched them from their Biloela, QLD home in March 2018.
Biloela resident and family friend Angela Fredericks said she is frightened that the family may be served deportation notices at any time.
“We are on high alert for this precious family,” Ms Fredericks said.
“Mr Dutton’s Border Force could deport them at any time, sending them back to fear and uncertainty in Sri Lanka.”
“What this family really needs right now is some political fortitude, someone who is willing to put their neck out and speak up for this family, just like the community of Biloela have been doing for 15 months,” Ms Fredericks said.
The renewed effort comes as a Gladstone-based dentist and regional councillor offered to treat serious dental damage suffered by Queensland-born toddlers Kopika and Tharunicaa, who have suffered serious dental damage in a Melbourne detention centre.
Dentist and Gladstone Regional Councillor Dr Poya John Sobhania is concerned about reports of serious vitamin deficiencies suffered by Kopika and Tharunicaa since their incarceration, which have resulted in prolonged dental infections for Tharunicaa, who is not yet two.
“I believe politics is about public representation and about taking action. As a health practitioner I believe in doing good. As regional Australians we believe action speaks louder than words: That is why I am pleading with Mr. O’Dowd to take action and free this family, bring them home to Biloela this week; And I would like to take action and as a dentist offer my services free of charge to attend to the children’s oral health needs, to the best of my ability, at my clinic the week after.”
Dr Sobhania says, “Together we can do great things. Let’s work together and as our national anthem states ‘in history’s page let every stage advance Australia Fair’.”
Photo and interview opportunity:
Angela Fredericks and Dr Poya John Sobhania will be available for interview at the Gladstone Regional Council, 101 Goondoon Street, Gladstone at 8:30am, Wednesday 15th May.