PM won’t intervene for Tamil family

SCOTT Morrison will not save a Tamil family from deportation because he believes doing so would expose Australia to a new wave of boat people.

His government also revealed boats have been coming from Sri Lanka for months, only to be turned around by Australia’s border patrols.

The man with a trophy in his office celebrating how he stopped the boats says granting an exception for a family whose asylum claims had been denied would kick-start the people smuggling trade.

The Prime Minister said the Government could not change its position on the basis of “a public reaction” to the family’s plight.

“I know what happens when people think it’s OK to make an exception here or there. I remember what happened. I remember the deaths,” Mr Morrison said yesterday. “I remember those terrible images and I will not ever allow that to happen again if it’s within my power and where it’s within my power.” He said people smugglers remain active in Sri Lanka and Indonesia, and would act on any sign the government was weakening its position.

There were protests in capital cities across Australia at the weekend in support of Priya, her husband Nadesalingam and their Australian-born children Kopika, 4, and Tharunicaa, 2.

The family’s deportation was halted last week after a judge issued a last-minute injunction that saw their flight from Melbourne to Sri Lanka land in Darwin. The family has since been transferred to Christmas Island, pending a court hearing today to decide their fate.

The High Court has previously denied protection claims by the older child and the parents, who came to Australia separately and illegally by boat in 2012 and 2013 after Sri Lanka’s civil war.

The Government says they have had their asylum claims assessed several times and were found not to be genuine refugees.