ID :
27771
Fri, 10/31/2008 - 18:06
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/27771
The shortlink copeid
Roxon, Brumby to lobby for German doctor
(AAP) - The federal health minister and the Victorian premier are challenging an immigration department decision refusing permanent residency to a German doctor because one of his children has Down syndrome.
Lukas Moeller's father, Dr Bernhard Moeller, brought his family to Horsham, in
central-western Victoria, two years ago on a 457 temporary visa to help fill a
shortage of general practitioners in the 14,000-person town.
With the visa due to expire in 2010, Dr Moeller and his family have sought permanent
residency.
But the Department of Immigration has estimated Lukas, 13, would cost "several
hundred thousand dollars" in care and refused the application because the son with
Down syndrome would create "significant and ongoing cost" to the Australian
taxpayer.
Federal Health Minister Nicole Roxon said she would take the case up with
Immigration Minister Chris Evans because she believes there is "a valid reason for
this doctor and his family to be eligible to stay here in Australia".
"I will be talking to the immigration minister, but my understanding is that a
process needs to be undertaken first and that there is a valid reason for this
doctor and his family to be eligible to stay here in Australia providing those
services," Ms Roxon said.
"As a government we understand the importance of having doctors working in our rural
and regional communities and we support them in many ways and continue to do this.
"But for this particular case, it's a matter I will raise with the immigration
minister, but I understand that those court processes need to be undertaken first."
Ms Roxon said the government had made it clear it supported and encouraged doctors
to work in rural and regional communities.
Victorian Premier John Brumby spoke to Dr Moeller on Friday and pledged his full
support.
Publicly branding the decision "discriminatory" and a "serious error", Mr Brumby
wrote to Senator Evans to request a review.
Dr Moeller said when he, his wife Isabella and their three children, Sarah, now 20,
Felix, 17 and Lukas, 13, migrated on his 457 temporary working visa, he told the
immigration department they hoped to settle permanently.
"We specifically told them we wanted to stay permanently if it worked out well for
everybody, and it did," he told AAP.
He said the public outcry sparked by the case showed the department's decision was
"absolutely" out of step with the community's wishes.
"If it's correct what the department of immigration is telling me that they are
acting according to the law, then there is something wrong with the law," he said.
Dr Moeller says he will appeal the decision at the Migration Review Tribunal and if
unsuccessful there, will appeal to the immigration minister to reverse it.
He said the family would always support and look after Lukas and that to ask for "a
little bit of support" should not be too big a burden, when he was providing much
needed medical services in Horsham.
As Horsham residents began a petition calling for the decision to be reversed, Dr
Moeller said the Wimmera Base Hospital's switchboard went into "meltdown" with calls
of support.
Community support group Down Syndrome Victoria chief executive Catherine McAlpine
urged the federal government to review its policy.
In a statement, she said the department's assessment appeared to be based on
"archaic notions of intellectual disability".
Federal opposition disabilities spokesman Cory Bernardi also said he had asked
Senator Evans to intervene but that the minister was passing the buck to his
department.
While the department has avoided naming Lukas, it said the commonwealth medical
officer assessing the case had determined the cost a "hypothetical person" could
impose over at least the next five years was more than its allowed $21,000 for a
person aged under 75.
"In regard to this case with Dr Moeller, the MOC (medical officer of the
commonwealth) has assessed a hypothetical person with the same level and form of
condition in Australia is likely to result in costs to the community that are
significant," a spokesman told AAP.
"It is estimated this would be several hundred thousand dollars."
Lukas Moeller's father, Dr Bernhard Moeller, brought his family to Horsham, in
central-western Victoria, two years ago on a 457 temporary visa to help fill a
shortage of general practitioners in the 14,000-person town.
With the visa due to expire in 2010, Dr Moeller and his family have sought permanent
residency.
But the Department of Immigration has estimated Lukas, 13, would cost "several
hundred thousand dollars" in care and refused the application because the son with
Down syndrome would create "significant and ongoing cost" to the Australian
taxpayer.
Federal Health Minister Nicole Roxon said she would take the case up with
Immigration Minister Chris Evans because she believes there is "a valid reason for
this doctor and his family to be eligible to stay here in Australia".
"I will be talking to the immigration minister, but my understanding is that a
process needs to be undertaken first and that there is a valid reason for this
doctor and his family to be eligible to stay here in Australia providing those
services," Ms Roxon said.
"As a government we understand the importance of having doctors working in our rural
and regional communities and we support them in many ways and continue to do this.
"But for this particular case, it's a matter I will raise with the immigration
minister, but I understand that those court processes need to be undertaken first."
Ms Roxon said the government had made it clear it supported and encouraged doctors
to work in rural and regional communities.
Victorian Premier John Brumby spoke to Dr Moeller on Friday and pledged his full
support.
Publicly branding the decision "discriminatory" and a "serious error", Mr Brumby
wrote to Senator Evans to request a review.
Dr Moeller said when he, his wife Isabella and their three children, Sarah, now 20,
Felix, 17 and Lukas, 13, migrated on his 457 temporary working visa, he told the
immigration department they hoped to settle permanently.
"We specifically told them we wanted to stay permanently if it worked out well for
everybody, and it did," he told AAP.
He said the public outcry sparked by the case showed the department's decision was
"absolutely" out of step with the community's wishes.
"If it's correct what the department of immigration is telling me that they are
acting according to the law, then there is something wrong with the law," he said.
Dr Moeller says he will appeal the decision at the Migration Review Tribunal and if
unsuccessful there, will appeal to the immigration minister to reverse it.
He said the family would always support and look after Lukas and that to ask for "a
little bit of support" should not be too big a burden, when he was providing much
needed medical services in Horsham.
As Horsham residents began a petition calling for the decision to be reversed, Dr
Moeller said the Wimmera Base Hospital's switchboard went into "meltdown" with calls
of support.
Community support group Down Syndrome Victoria chief executive Catherine McAlpine
urged the federal government to review its policy.
In a statement, she said the department's assessment appeared to be based on
"archaic notions of intellectual disability".
Federal opposition disabilities spokesman Cory Bernardi also said he had asked
Senator Evans to intervene but that the minister was passing the buck to his
department.
While the department has avoided naming Lukas, it said the commonwealth medical
officer assessing the case had determined the cost a "hypothetical person" could
impose over at least the next five years was more than its allowed $21,000 for a
person aged under 75.
"In regard to this case with Dr Moeller, the MOC (medical officer of the
commonwealth) has assessed a hypothetical person with the same level and form of
condition in Australia is likely to result in costs to the community that are
significant," a spokesman told AAP.
"It is estimated this would be several hundred thousand dollars."
