$30m wasted to stop one QLD family coming home

Angela Fredericks

BILOELA, Australia

Oct 24, 2019 —

“Yep.”

That was the reply when Border Force officials were asked if they'd spent $30 million to detain Priya, Nades and their QLD-born girls on Christmas Island for two months. But they had nothing to say about the waste of life and potential

When Priya and Nades heard how much money our government is wasting on the otherwise empty Christmas Island detention centre, they told me they felt sick.

In Biloela, this beautiful family was self-sufficient. Like any other proud dad, Nades worked hard to support his young family. He got up early, he worked long hours and he paid taxes. Priya, a dressmaker, was dedicated to her role as full-time mum to two gorgeous little girls.

With the kind of money our government is wasting on stopping one family from coming home to Biloela, they could buy around 330,000 megalitres of water for drought-stricken farmers, or 61,000 tonnes of hay to feed hungry cattle.

In fact, they could put around $5,000 in the pocket of every man, woman and child in Biloela.

After Mr Dutton's Border Force snatched Priya, Nades, Kopika and Tharunicaa from their Biloela home, they were held in a Melbourne detention centre for 18 months.

In detention, the girls were denied adequate sunlight and fresh food for months and ended up with severe vitamin deficiency. Over that year and a half, they were allowed to mix with other children at playgroup just twice.

At the start of October, the UN Human Rights Committee asked our government to release Priya, Nades and the girls into the community within 30 days - and the 30 days are up next Tuesday.