Welcome home. With a Labor victory at the 2022 federal election, we join the family as they return home to Biloela. It’s a teary, frantic, and joyous reunion for them, but what does this mean for other families like the Nadeslinagams? Is Labor’s election win the victory that people think it is?

In this episode we explore what our government is still doing to not have to accept asylum seekers into our country, what made this family and this campaign so special, as well as what’s next for the family.

Everything is riding on the 2022 federal election. The LNP have held firm that the Nadesalingams would not be returning to Biloela, and no special visa would be granted to them, but the Labor Party has made an election promise to return them to Biloela if they are elected. How did this one family become an election talking point in 2022? 

We find out if four years of campaigning to bring this family back to Biloela is actually changing the way people vote. And we join the campaign team as they make a final push to get people to preference Labor over LNP for this one family.

Another deportation attempt is made, but this time, more people are following their story. Supporters drop what they are doing and dash to the airport to help. Campaigners jump the fence and get arrested. Nevertheless, the family are separated and forced onto a plane. But an urgent injunction is granted mid-flight, and forces the plane to land in Darwin. Rather than fly them back to Melbourne detention, the Nadesalingams are flown to a detention centre on a remote offshore territory of Australia, a detention centre that has not been in use for over 4 years.

The government spent $27 million dollars in 2019 reopening this facility to detain four people. It is in this facility that both Priya and Tharnicaa faced significant health issues. So with the amount of money going into these detention centres, why are conditions so poor? And why is nothing happening to fix it?