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Irish couple facing deportation in Australia because son has cystic fibrosis granted residency

The couple appealed the decision to refuse them residency which prompted intervention from a government minister.

AN IRISH FAMILY, who was facing deportation in Australia because their three-year-old son has cystic fibrosis, has been granted residency.

Anthony and Christine Hyde’s son Daragh was born in 2015 and was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.

The couple, originally from Dublin, submitted an application for residency in 2015 just weeks after he was born.

The application was refused because of Daragh’s condition, which the Australian government said did not meet the health criteria and would be a financial burden on the state.

The Hydes have been living in Seymour, Victoria, for more than a decade, where Christine works as an assistant school principal, and Anthony works part-time as a bus driver.

In a blog post online last night, however, Christine confirmed that, following an appeal, a decision was made to grant residency to the three of them.

“Thank you to everyone who supported us. Late yesterday evening we received the good news that we were granted residency,” she said.

“We are so excited, a huge weight has been lifted and we can continue our lives. We are completely grateful to everyone.”

It comes after they appealed the original decision to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, which then recommended that the case be put forward for ministerial intervention. 

Immigration Minister David Coleman overturned the decision and permitted the family to remain in Australia. 

In an interview with Channel10′s The Project previously, Christine pleaded with Coleman to intervene in the case. 

“We’re asking that the minister just look at us as a whole family unit and what we already give back, rather than just a medical condition. 

“Australia is supposed to be fair and everyone we know is as fair as it gets. And that’s what we find really difficult to understand about this situation,” she said. 

A petition online was signed by more than 120,000 people who supported the Hyde’s plea to remain in Australia.

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42 Comments
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    Mute Clifford Brennan
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    Jul 6th 2019, 10:26 AM

    About time. It was a genuinely disgraceful decision by the Australian authorities.

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    Mute Charles McGuire
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    Jul 6th 2019, 10:30 AM

    @Clifford Brennan: I might be naive but ai think it was one of those cases whereby the lower ranking employees of the state went by the book with regards to the rules, it does make sense, not to grant resideny to immigrants who will burden the state. They didn’t factor in the human cost and it took public outcry and media attention to bring to light their situation to the higher ups.

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    Mute The Guru
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    Jul 6th 2019, 10:31 AM

    @Clifford Brennan: how was it disgraceful? They were on temporary visas and then applied for residency after the child was born knowing the drugs would cost 300k per year. It had to be approved as a special case and it was. Do you think they should just allow everyone permanent residency?

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    Mute George Salter
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    Jul 6th 2019, 10:34 AM

    @Charles McGuire: I’d concur with that opinion. A lot of the Australian civil service works on 5-year contracts, I am told. An error costing the state money, could cost you your job- so stick to the rules and let someone at a higher pay grade make the call. This, as an aside, is why we have permanent contracts… although the accountability pendulum can swing too far in either direction.

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    Mute Craig Clancy
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    Jul 6th 2019, 10:35 AM

    @Clifford Brennan: it is and it isn’t..I can kind of see Australia’s argument and I can see the parents side..it was a tricky decision..if the parents have the means and ways to pay for the child’s condition then leave them have residency but they don’t..guess they don’t want to be seen as soft like the Irish government..

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    Mute Bruce van der Gutschmitzer
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    Jul 6th 2019, 10:41 AM

    @Craig Clancy: we’re a fairly compassionate nation but can you imagine the amount of ugly woodlouse that would come out on here if there were immigrants who wanted to stay and have our government pay 300k a year for medicine. Particularly if they were of certain demographics.

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    Mute Clifford Brennan
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    Jul 6th 2019, 10:50 AM

    @The Guru: No, they had applied for PR weeks before their child was born, and a few months before he was diagnosed with CF. I wouldnt be a fan of booting sick children out of any country, which is very different to the silly question you pose at the end of your inaccurate comment.

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    Mute Bee Johnson
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    Jul 6th 2019, 10:52 AM

    @Bruce van der Gutschmitzer: Have to agree with you there.

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    Mute Nollaig Elliot
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    Jul 6th 2019, 11:13 AM

    @Bruce van der Gutschmitzer:

    To be fair, all of us that live, work and pay tax here in Oz pay a levy for Medicare and we get a good health care system. I, thankfully, don’t ever need to use it and am happy to pay the levy every year so people like this still get to benefit from it. I also know a lot of people who feel the same. The government will be grand fitting the bill from the tax.

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    Mute The Guru
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    Jul 6th 2019, 11:21 AM

    @Clifford Brennan: The article says they submitted the application weeks after he was born. Australia has hundreds of thousands of temporary residents. Do you honestly not believe they should have rules around such things?

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    Mute Clifford Brennan
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    Jul 6th 2019, 11:28 AM

    @The Guru: The article is incorrect and should be amended. As i said I wouldnt be a fan of booting sick children out of any country.

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    Mute Bruce van der Gutschmitzer
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    Jul 6th 2019, 11:51 AM

    @Nollaig Elliot: that was something my friends used to comment on also. They seemed v happy with the health system and tax system in general when they got a hefty lump once they finished up and decided to come home. I understand where the government’s policy comes from in fairness. If you are seen as a net contributor be it economically or socially or otherwise then you are accepted. Makes sense.

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    Mute Dave Hammond
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    Jul 6th 2019, 1:44 PM

    @George Salter: nonsense .

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    Mute Daithi De Roiste
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    Jul 7th 2019, 1:07 AM

    @Clifford Brennan: Typical for them. They are a horrrible crowd.

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    Mute Seamus Kelly
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    Jul 7th 2019, 1:56 AM

    @The Guru: what a horrific human being you must be in real life

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    Mute Seamus Kelly
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    Jul 7th 2019, 2:00 AM

    @Seamus Kelly: this was an ongoing embarrassment to the uncaring Aussie culture. Thank God for this poor couple. I wish them well

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    Mute rocks0769
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    Jul 7th 2019, 8:17 PM

    @Clifford Brennan: in that case, let’s get ready to be super compassionate the next time a Somali immigrant claims residency in Ireland with a sick child. The uproar would be heard in Australia! The Australian system is strict and basically based on saying no to anything that is deemed a burden to the state, but there are multiple layers of appeal and in this case the system worked.

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    Mute Doire
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    Jul 6th 2019, 10:34 AM

    I’mconfused about what temporary visa allows them to stay “over a decade”

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    Mute Bee Johnson
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    Jul 6th 2019, 10:49 AM

    @Doire: depends on what visa you are on. You can be sponsored by your job for up to 4 years, you can also get permanent residency visas which cam be renewed you can’t apply for citizenship until you have been permanent residency at least 4 years. You can also be sponsored by your employer for 4 years at a time.

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    Mute Doire
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    Jul 6th 2019, 12:04 PM

    @Bee Johnson:been there over a decade the child is 3. They have been granted permanent residency not citizenship. They have 7 years of temporary visas to make up.

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    Mute Bee Johnson
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    Jul 6th 2019, 5:49 PM

    @Doire: ok so you go out on a 2 year working visa , then you get sponsored by you job , She most likely would as she works in education which is a skill shortage, assuming they were married he can stay under hee visa, So now they are there 6 years, then they renew their sponsorship for a further 4 years which will bring them to 10 and in the meantime around the birth of their son (3 years ago) they apply for their permanent residency which will then pave the way to apply for citizenship or they could continue to renew pr. But there are so many different types of visas you cam apply for and they all have slightly different rules. but you can rest assured they had visas as there is no way they would be working in their jobs without them

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    Mute Tommy C
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    Jul 6th 2019, 11:45 AM

    Must still hurt though. You live and work in a supposedly liberal forward thinking country for 10 years and just when you need it to meet you half way it blinks.

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    Mute Sean Murphy
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    Jul 6th 2019, 12:58 PM

    @Tommy C: Australia? Liberal and forward thinking? They’re one of the most conservative countries in “western” culture

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    Mute Padraig Salah
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    Jul 6th 2019, 12:33 PM

    Crazy that they had to go through all that but good result in brilliant country,

    Shows how slack our immigration laws are in comparison. Any criminal from eu no English different culture zero skills can just waltz into Ireland. So much for getting the best.

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    Mute Bee Johnson
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    Jul 6th 2019, 5:55 PM

    @Padraig Salah: as any criminal from Queensland can waltz into New South Wales crazy how free movement of people in a continent works isn’t it

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    Mute Tony Lyons
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    Jul 6th 2019, 2:51 PM

    I wonder what the comments would be like if it were someone looking for the same here I think the comments section would be full of let’s look after our own what about the homeless and the patients on trollies personally I think it’s great that they are now being looked after

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    Mute Johnny Merren
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    Jul 6th 2019, 10:43 AM

    Its funny. I recall there was a time Australia took all our Irish rejects in the past all you needed was to be white

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    Mute FlopFlipU
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    Jul 6th 2019, 11:02 AM

    @Johnny Merren: and before that all you had to be was a gangster

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    Mute Wild Goose
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    Jul 6th 2019, 11:48 AM

    @Johnny Merren: Well said.

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    Mute Dave Hammond
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    Jul 6th 2019, 1:48 PM

    @Johnny Merren: yep – from the same times when nobody wanted to migrate into Ireland either – and actually all we has was a white population – but times have moved on – and actually Australia does a pretty good job at managing their borders these days – we could learn a thing or two for ireland

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    Mute Unitedpeople
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    Jul 6th 2019, 1:33 PM

    Delighted to see sense has prevailed.
    Good luck to the family.

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    Mute Richard Carroll
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    Jul 6th 2019, 1:37 PM

    Delighted for them. Best of luck for the future.

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    Mute Helen O'Neill
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    Jul 6th 2019, 10:54 AM

    This was such and awfully sad story, god almighty like!

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    Mute Donwon999
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    Jul 6th 2019, 12:25 PM

    Good

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    Mute Brian Flavin
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    Jul 6th 2019, 10:58 AM

    Ridiculous Australia authorities are wrong deported cos parent of son born in Australia and very expensive medical in Australia like USA

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    Mute Nollaig Elliot
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    Jul 6th 2019, 11:15 AM

    @Brian Flavin:

    Health care in Oz is absolutely nothing like that in America.

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    Mute James Dara Brady
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    Jul 6th 2019, 11:19 AM

    @Brian Flavin: what does this sentence mean?!?

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    Mute Charmaine Walker
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    Jul 6th 2019, 11:23 AM

    @James Dara Brady: he word’s his sentences in broken English..

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    Mute Bruce van der Gutschmitzer
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    Jul 6th 2019, 11:52 AM

    @Charmaine Walker: *words ;)

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    Mute 5hbeZh0I
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    Jul 6th 2019, 12:13 PM

    @Charmaine Walker: he words is?

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    Mute Mad Worldman
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    Jul 6th 2019, 11:29 PM

    For a country that is ninety nine per cent immigrants they sure have a bad attitude towards immigrants

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    Mute Ronan McDermott
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    Jul 7th 2019, 5:59 AM

    Great to hear they got this overturned but the reality is most countries have this policy in place. They applied after he was born. Surprising this was overturned tbh. Best of luck to them

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