VICTORY FOR PEOPLE POWER! THE NGUYEN FAMILY CAN STAY! MINISTER APPROVES VISAS!

I’ve been advised by the Minister for Immigration and Home Affairs, Tony Burke, that he has considered the Nguyen family’s application for Ministerial Intervention and has now granted them new visas allowing them to live and work in Australia!

This is a sensational result for the Nguyens and brings to an end a decade of stress and uncertainty for this much-loved Bathurst family.

I am delighted that the Minister has acted so quickly to make the right decision that the family and the community so desperately wanted.

It really is proof that people power can prevail!

I delivered the news in a phone call to Duc Nguyen and he was absolutely overjoyed! You could immediately feel a great weight being lifted from his shoulders.

Over 22,000 people signed the petition to keep the Nguyen family in Bathurst and Australia and I think that outpouring of love and support really carried the day.

The new visas are Former Resident Visas which allow Duc Nguyen and his parents to continue living and working in Australia. It’s the best possible result for the family.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported the Nguyen family through this ordeal including the tens of thousands who signed the petition.

And a special tribute to the community members who went over and above to support the family and meet with their lawyers, including Juanita Kwok and Pauline Graff. They are truly deserving of the thanks of our community for their compassion and kindness.

The Nguyens had their visas knocked back through no fault of their own and this wonderful decision by the Minister to grant them new visas means that they can now continue building their futures in Bathurst with confidence and certainty and the ongoing support of the local community. Their restaurant can now re-open and the family can stay together.

It really is a victory for people power!

ENDS

Media contact: Kathleen Hewitt, 0482 942 08