Don’t deport little Aussie Luca

Life really can be bitter sweet - it can throw up hurdles and roadblocks when they are least expected but sometimes, when all seems dark, a light appears at the end of the tunnel.

That's happened to me more than once and I can only hope it transpires for the latest victims of a seemingly heartless government - a young Australian born Cystic Fibrosis (CF) sufferer and his parents, who now face the threat of deportation.

With the legacy media's attention firmly focussed on the profligate spending in the vote-chasing, woke- appeasing Federal Budget and the latest highly controversial International Criminal Court upheavals in the on-going Gaza conflict, this seems to have sadly flown under the radar.

Channel 7 recently interviewed the Perth parents who said they "genuinely fear" for their son's life if they are forced to leave the country because the toddler has CF.

Luca, 2, was born in Australia but isn't a citizen, and the government says the potential cost of his treatment is too much for taxpayers to bear.

Really? This is a government which claims to have the best interests of its citizens front and foremost, but perhaps I should add "Australian citizens and an apparently select band of non- Australian citizens" including:

• Palestinians from Gaza who collectively cheered and clapped when the blood-thirsty terrorist group Hamas paraded Israeli hostages through the streets after the October 7 massacres and rapes? No worries, we'll roll out the welcome mat after security checks which take about an hour;
• ISIS brides and their children, some of whom witnessed and possibly participated in horrific beheadings? Just four women and 13 children were returned by the Albanese government in October 2022, but last November an apparently non-woke Federal Court judge ruled against forcing the government to repatriate another 11 women and 20 children, after a legal challenge brought by Save the Children. (Big sigh of relief).
• More than 80,000 rejected asylum seekers who are still in Australia despite their claims for protection being denied, with the majority enjoying full work and study rights. Refugees who arrived by boat are held in detention centres, but those who arrive legally can stay for years even if their protection claims are rejected. Reportedly, only 17 have been deported this year.
• We also have the 150 former detainees released into the community, including 37 sex offenders and 72 violent offenders, some murderers, following a High Court ruling. One has subsequently been charged with the vicious attack and robbery of elderly Perth woman Ninette Simmons, while on bail and not required to wear an ankle bracelet.

No prizes there for PM Anthony Albanese or his hapless, hopeless Ministers Andrew Giles (Immigration and Citizenship), Clare O'Neal (Home Affairs) and Mark Dreyfus (Attorney General). Slow hand-claps for belated attempts to shut the gate after the horse has well and truly bolted.

But back to the case of young Luca and his parents who at the time of writing were dreading a phone call ordering them to leave the country:

"(We're) just devastated. This has been our home for eight years. We've got friends, family, Luca's godparents are here," his mother Laura Currie said.

CF is a genetic disease affecting the lungs and digestive system.

The sticking point for the family is a life-saving drug called Trikafta.

The treatment is on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and costs Australian CF patients $42.50 but, without the discount, it soars to $250,000 a year.

The official estimate for his medical bill is $1.8m over 10 years, money the government is not prepared to pay for Luca despite him being born here.

The toddler is not currently taking Trikafta and might not even be compatible with it.

Luca's father Dante Vendittell, a construction worker from Italy, and Currie, a child educator from Scotland, met in Australia eight years ago and are now on bridging visas.

The family is living in limbo because they could get a phone call as soon as next week ordering them out….

"The UK health care is practically non-existent, it's literally on its knees," Currie said.

"I genuinely fear for Luca's life."

It seems hopelessly out of touch and hypocritical for a government to take this cruel stance when it is not even known if the expensive drug will be suitable for this little Aussie boy. At the same time, it can shovel truckloads of taxpayer funds at dubious virtue signalling green energy projects including billions for private enterprise ventures proposed by mega-rich investors such as Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest, Mike Cannon-Brookes and former PM Malcolm Turnbull.

And of course they and thousands of other multi-millionaires will be able to pocket the universal largesse of $300 power rebates under a $3.5 billion cost of living package. Multiple properties? No worries, just put your hand out …

But hang on Albo and co, do some research and you will find that there is a direct precedent where another young boy with CF was granted citizenship after also being threatened with deportation. Back in July 2019, the ABC reported the case with a happy ending thanks to the intervention of a former Morrison Government Minister:

Christine and Anthony Hyde have lived in Seymour in central Victoria since 2009, but their application for permanent residency was rejected as their three-year-old son Darragh was deemed a "burden" on Australia's healthcare system.

Their permanent residency application was finally approved last Friday after the case was referred to David Coleman, the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs.

"It's a relief," Ms Hyde said.

"Just waking up and worrying no more - it's great!"

Well, I agree! But I must add a disclaimer. I know just how they felt, thanks to a little hero who joined our lives as a grandchild 18 years ago this week. Let me explain with a name change to protect his privacy:

It's a miracle little Ted survived even his first day in this world. He arrived two months premature, a feat in itself, but within his first few hours he was back in the operating theatre for major surgery to repair a twisted bowel. A few weeks later, he needed another operation to reconnect the severed bowel, but just before that, another bombshell dropped. Tiny Ted was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis….

But he survived the second operation too, and when I first met him in the premmie ward at the Brisbane Royal Women's Hospital, he reached out a miniscule hand and held one of my fingers in a grip so tight, I knew he had the fighting blood of our Viking ancestors coursing through his frail little body.

Two months later, his proud Mum and Dad were finally able to take him home and it is another small miracle, plus a tribute to their love and devotion, that he has not looked back and has never spent another day in hospital. Recent advances in drug treatments available on the PBS (Trikafta and Orkambi) have helped, and hopefully before too long a cure will be found.

These days, he is a tall, strapping teenager who towers over me with his long hair and stubble beard which would not be out of place in a remake of Jesus Christ Superstar. He displays some rare qualities which have seen him win major academic awards at his high school before entering university this year. He's a tech-head who loves creating his own computer games, and has a wacky sense of humour combined with a flair for creativity. An inability to sit still for long frequently leads to challenges such as, "Give me a topic and I'll write a story in 10 minutes.."

Which he does. Maybe one day he'll be a budding entrepreneur who can compete with the increasing inroads of AI in our everyday lives.

Maybe little Luca will also be able to contribute in a meaningful, productive way if we just give him a chance and don't deport him because he's "too expensive to care for". One can only hope.

Come on Albo, there might even be a vote in it if you intervene and keep him where he was born in The Land Down Under. Remember you did it for Biloela's Tamil asylum seekers on the eve of their deportation.