An Adelaide-based family who is pleading with the federal government to allow them to stay in Australia says the country’s visa laws need to change to give more people to “fair go”.
Key points:
- The family have been in Australia on bridging visas for 10 years
- SA Best MLC Frank Pangallo has raised the plight of the family
- He says Australia needs to attract more skilled migrants
Mark and Kelly Green moved to Australia from Scotland a decade ago when their daughter Rebecca was nine.
Mr Green and his family are like thousands of bridging visa holders who have become accustomed to living in limbo, and have found it difficult to secure their future in Australia.
Mr Green, a qualified electrician who has been working on solar projects in Australia, has not yet met the criteria for permanent residence because he has been unable to stay with the same employer for the required amount of time.
The family sold all their belongings and had been booked to board a flight back to Scotland late on Wednesday night, but were granted a last-minute extension after Premier Peter Malinauskas called federal Immigration Minister Andrew Giles.
“We were just so stressed out, we didn’t know what was happening and we thought it was the end yesterday, then to have that news at the very end brought to us, it was fantastic,” Mr Green said.
“We can’t thank these people enough, you know, just for that chance to stay a little bit longer and hopefully forever, because this is our home.”
Mr Green, who stood holding his wife and daughter while speaking to the media, became emotional when he described how much he loved Australia and wanted to stay.
“Sometimes you’ve just got to fight, fight for what’s right,” he said.
“I’ve got these two people here, they mean the world to me and that’s worth fighting for.”
Mr Green said he hoped the immigration minister would make the “right decision”.
“All we can do is plead with him and say please look at our case and look at it with all your heart, we’ve done nothing wrong,” Mr Green said.
‘So much to offer’ Australia
Mr Green said he had now found a supportive employer who was willing to sponsor him for the full amount of time required to meet the permanent residency requirements and he just needed permission from the federal government to stay.
“We’re still not out of the water yet, all the support we can still get would be fantastic,” Mr Green said.
He said he wanted the system to change to make it easier for others like him and his family.
“There’s been people waiting out there for years to try and get into this country, and no wonder why this country is fantastic, it’s brilliant,” he said.
“There’s so much to offer here and people have got so much to offer this country as well and that’s what they’ve got to take into consideration, the rules have got to be changed a little bit to be brought up to the times. It’s not fair that people are stuck in these situations.”
Rebecca Green, 19, said she had hopes of studying at university to become an aged care worker.
“I wanted to study aged care nursing at uni after I finished high school, but the visa we were on didn’t allow them to do that, but all my friends were doing it and I was really excited to go for that course,” she said.
“We just have to wait to see what happens with the permanent residence.
“It would be really good to work in that industry, I think I could contribute to it a lot.”
She said she was “very proud” of her dad.
“I think this has brought us together a lot, we were still really close but we’ve got each other through this,” she said.
Last minute intervention
Premier Peter Malinauskas said the family’s plight was brought to his attention by SA Best MLC Frank Pangallo.
“On the back of Frank Pangallo’s advocacy, I familiarized myself with the matter yesterday and I did form a judgment that this was something I was willing to put a bit of effort into and we were able to establish a phone hook up which I had early yesterday evening with Andrew Giles, the federal Immigration Minister,” the Premier said.
“I was wrapped that he gave a positive response to a request for at least considering the circumstances of the Green family and then delaying their, in effect, deportation.”
Mr Malinauskas said the discussions happened with a tight deadline in mind of the Green’s pending flight that same evening.
“It all happened very quickly… I’m just glad I was able to play a role and help the family out.”
The Premier said the Greens were the kind of people the state wanted to attract.
“We don’t want to find ourselves in a situation as a state where we’re losing skilled workers that we want to keep, and I think Green family is an example of that.”
Mr Pangallo said the Green family are people Australia needs to attract now.
“Australia is renowned for being the land of the fair go, and people like the Greens have not received a fair go,” he said.
“They are the type of people that Australia desperately needs right now, we need skilled people in this country, we shouldn’t be sending them away and asking them to reapply and come back at great expense to them.”
Mr Pangallo said Australia’s visa system was “broken” and needed fixing.
“This is sending a bad message, it’s not just about one family who wants to stay in Australia, it actually reflects on how complicated, expensive and difficult or visa system is, and it needs to be overhauled.”
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