Labor has called on Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews to apologise after she suggested media reports on the medical condition of hospitalised Tamil asylum seeker Tharnicaa Murugappan were "inaccurate".
Four-year-old Tharnicaa, the youngest daughter of the Tamil family from the small Queensland town of Biloela, was flown to Perth Children’s Hospital for treatment with her mother, Priya, after more than 10 days of vomiting, fever, and diarrhoea.
She was diagnosed with a blood infection caused by untreated pneumonia, supporters said, sparking renewed calls for the family to be released from immigration detention on the remote island.
But speaking to 4BC radio on Wednesday, Ms Andrews said coverage of Tharnicaa's illness had been “inaccurate”.
Nades and Kopika before boarding a plane bound for Perth on Tuesday. Source: Supplied/HometoBilo
"I can't answer anything that would give details of this child's medical condition other than to say a lot of the reporting has been inaccurate,” she said.
"The illness the child is suffering and is in hospital for has been well and truly treated, in the advice I have been given."
Responding to Ms Andrews’ comments, Labor’s spokesperson for multicultural affairs Andrews Giles said she should apologise.
“It’s appalling that Minister Andrews speaks so carelessly and callously about a sick four-year-old girl,” he said in a statement on Twitter.
“Tharnicaa got so sick in detention that she had to be evacuated to a Perth hospital, where she remains. The Minister should reflect on her comments and she must apologise.”
Following Tharnicaa's repatriation, Immigration Minister Alex Hawke on Tuesday allowed her father, Nades, and older sister, Kopika, to join the family in Perth, where they will live under community detention while they pursue court action.
The family-of-four spent their first night together on the mainland since August 2019, after Nades and Kopika arrived on a charter flight from Christmas Island.
Announcing that they would be transferred to community detention, Mr Hawke said the decision did not “create a pathway to a visa”.
He said he would consider "at a future date" whether he would use his ministerial discretion to lift the bar preventing the family from reapplying for a protection visa.
The family has been in immigration detention for more than three years .
The government has repeatedly said the family do not meet the criteria for a protection visa, after Nades and Priya arrived separately in Australia by boat in 2012 and 2013.
While their claims for asylum were assessed, they settled in Biloela and gave birth two their two daughters.
Biloela community members have waged a long-running campaign to have the family returned to the town after they were taken into custody in March 2018.
Family friend Angela Fredericks, who is travelling to Perth to reunite with the family on Wednesday, said she couldn’t wait to throw her arms around Priya.
“After years of singing songs with the girls via video calls, it will be wonderful to get to play in person,” she said.
“We don’t know the details of their ongoing detention in Perth. We do know that Biloela wants them home with us, and we know that well more than half a million Australians agree with us. So many people have been moved by this family’s story.”
WA Premier Mark McGowan called for the family to be allowed to move to Biloela.
"I don't really understand why the Commonwealth is being so difficult and so bloody-minded about this," he told reporters on Wednesday. "Clearly they need to resolve the issue. Clearly the family has a way forward in Biloela.
"The father works at the meatworks, we have a lot of trouble attracting people to work at the meatworks these days. I don't understand why it should be so difficult."
Supporters, including the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, have continued their calls for Mr Hawke to grant the family a permanent visa immediately.
