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Speaker 1: Jum mission with Jonesy and Amanda. Now let's talk about

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Speaker 1: this family in Biller Wheeler and I've spoken about them

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Speaker 1: on air before. It's the first time ever I've phoned

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Speaker 1: a politician and said I'd like to register my feelings

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Speaker 1: about this. I'm trying to remember it was a couple

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Speaker 1: of years ago. This has been going on for some

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Speaker 1: period of time. At the moment, the member, if you're

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Speaker 1: interested that you need to contact Karen Andrews, the Home

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Speaker 1: Affairs Minister. The family. Let's look at the story so far.

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Speaker 1: We have a family in Billa Wheeler, both of them,

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Speaker 1: both the parents left Sri Lanka separately because of incidents there.

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Speaker 1: The mum, prior to her arrival in Australia, her fiance

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Speaker 1: was burned alive along with five other men at the

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Speaker 1: hands of the Sri Lankan government. He was killed because

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Speaker 1: he was a Tamil.

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Speaker 2: That's right.

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Speaker 1: He was in the Tamil ethnic group. And the father

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Speaker 1: sought refuge in Australia around twenty thirteen for the same reason.

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Speaker 1: They met each other here they married. They found peace

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Speaker 1: and safety in Billi Wheeler, a small suburb in central Queensland.

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Speaker 1: They had two daughters. The family were valued members of

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Speaker 1: the community. They were really a poster family for how

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Speaker 1: refugees can settle in. They were loved. The dad had

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Speaker 1: a job at the meatpacky of the meat works there.

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Speaker 1: Family was accepted big members of the community. But their

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Speaker 1: bridging visas expired and since then the government has tried

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Speaker 1: to deport them twice. A couple of times at the

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Speaker 1: very last minute, the planes on the tarmac heading back

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Speaker 1: to Sri Lanka, when the locals from Bill Wheeler, a

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Speaker 1: support group, said no, please, we want them here when

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Speaker 1: they are legal entanglements. The latest case was their youngest

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Speaker 1: daughter her right to apply for a protection visa. That

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Speaker 1: was how they were able to stay here. The reason

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Speaker 1: the family's in the news again this week will They

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Speaker 1: are now imprisoned on Christmas Island, which is in the

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Speaker 1: Indian Ocean off the coast off the coast of Western Australia.

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Speaker 1: Ten days ago, the youngest daughter, who is three, became ill.

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Speaker 1: She was only given panado and her mother was saying, no,

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Speaker 1: she's more ill. She's got progressively more ill. She now

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Speaker 1: has pneumonia which may have led to blood poisoning. It's

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Speaker 1: a very dangerous situation and she has been medivacd to Perth.

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Speaker 1: That's where we are and this has brought the story

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Speaker 1: up again as to why we can't show this family

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Speaker 1: compassion and allow them to return to Billa Wheeler.

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Speaker 2: And the government's made such a rod to its back

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Speaker 2: with the laws with refugees. So, as Peter Kremlin said

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Speaker 2: in her column, you can't have even if you come

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Speaker 2: here illegally, you're not going to get into the Government's

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Speaker 2: already made this stance. If you come into Australia illegally,

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Speaker 2: you're never going to be able to settle down here.

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Speaker 2: That's what they have said.

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Speaker 1: Interesting though, do you remember in twenty fifteen Peter Dutton,

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Speaker 1: who was the Minister in charge, use his ministerial powers

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Speaker 1: under the Migration Act to grant a visa for an

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Speaker 1: Italian O pair working for a Brisbane family. He did

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Speaker 1: the same for the AFL Chief Executive officer. The young

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Speaker 1: woman's case was brought to his attention. He saved her

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Speaker 1: from deportation. Visa wasn't correct. We have discretionary rules close

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Speaker 1: the place and I can't imagine people smugglers would look

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Speaker 1: at this and think, wow, what a win this family

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Speaker 1: has gone through hell and as a Christian prime minister,

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Speaker 1: what would Jesus do? What do you think Jesus?

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Speaker 2: Do you think too? How do you think they think? Oh,

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Speaker 2: this is just there's such a can of worms. I

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Speaker 2: don't want to deal with it, so they handball it

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Speaker 2: off to another department because it's costing us. How much

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Speaker 2: does it costing you?

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Speaker 1: Well, this is the interesting thing. The figure that the

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Speaker 1: government has released said that the bill has passed over

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Speaker 1: six and a half million one point four million spending

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Speaker 1: the year last year alone. Christina can nearly recently traveled

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Speaker 1: to Christmas Island and she said, when you take into

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Speaker 1: account the legal fees, the costs to open that the

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Speaker 1: Christmas Island facility in twenty nineteen, she said, it's closer

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Speaker 1: to fifty million dollars.

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Speaker 2: Wow.

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Speaker 1: I saw the Betuda Advocate yesterday. Their headline this is

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Speaker 1: a satirical site. Their headline was Irish backpacker in BONDI

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Speaker 1: wonders why fifty why ninety million wasn't spent torturing him

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Speaker 1: over he's expired visa. This is the thing there are

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Speaker 1: in there because that we see those sort of lapse diseases.

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Speaker 1: Those people are white they're not people smugglers, aren't interested

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Speaker 1: in them, therefore will grant them some discretion.

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Speaker 2: Wouldn't be the right if I was Prime Minister. Wouldn't

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Speaker 2: it be the right time now to let them stay

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Speaker 2: here because the people smuggling business isn't really working at

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Speaker 2: the moment because no one's getting into the country. You

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Speaker 2: see what I mean? So wouldn't you if you could

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Speaker 2: sneak it through to the keeper?

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Speaker 1: Look, I think I don't know. They've government has painted

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Speaker 1: themselves into a corner. But it's time to show some compassion.

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Speaker 1: I think if we put this to a referendum, most

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Speaker 1: Australians would say, please, this poor, poor family. Let them

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Speaker 1: return to a community who loves them and find some

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Speaker 1: semblance of semblance of a normal life. Jonesy and Amanda's