Mum's plea for authorities to 'look beyond son's condition' and not deport family
The Irish mother of a boy born with cystic fibrosis is pleading for the Australian government “to look beyond” her son’s condition and embrace the Aussie spirit of giving her family a “fair go” so they can stay here.
Christine and Anthony Hyde, who have been living in Australia for 10 years, face deportation along with their three-year-old boy Darragh.
They are appealing to Immigration Minister David Coleman in their bid to be granted permanent residency.
Ms Hyde is a special education teacher working in the regional Victorian town of Seymour. The educator said the reason she received an invitation to apply for permanent residency was because she has a skill that is on Australia’s Skills Occupation List.
She has a message for Immigration Minister David Coleman, after the family’s application to settle in Australia was rejected by the Home Affairs Department because Darragh was believed to be a burden on Australia’s health system.
“Look beyond Darragh’s condition,” she pleaded. “Cystic Fibrosis does not define Darragh or us as a family unit.”
Mum says she can contribute to improving Australian education
The mum, who is actively in an assistant principal role, told Yahoo News Australia she was contributing to schools facing educational disadvantage and wants to help drive change and improvement in Australia’s education system.
“I would like to remind the minister that these areas have had an absence of people with quality leadership skills,” she said.
“Whilst a high proportion of early career teachers see themselves as future leaders, this trend does not necessarily translate with reports across States and Territories showing a declining number of applications for principal vacancies.”
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She said the move back to Ireland would have drastic financial and medical impacts for the couple, who have not worked in their native country for more than a decade.
“We would be returning to nothing. We would get off a plane and have no home/house or place to live, we would have no jobs, we would be homeless really,” she told Yahoo News Australia.
The teacher said there were fewer job opportunities available to her in her home country, and her leadership skills would be wasted.
If deported, there would also be a delay in Darragh having access to the drug Kayldeco, which he currently takes twice a day.
Ms Hyde said Darragh gets lots of exercise and physio, and is “bright boy with a positive future ahead of him”.
The Hydes have launched an online petition calling for the department to reconsider their judgement and allow them to stay here.
“We are extremely grateful for all the support so far and that we are continuing to receive,” Ms Hyde said of the 13,000-plus people who have signed it.
“This is why we love Australia so much, true Australian spirit is about giving people a fair go.”
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