There has been a flurry of reports coming from Australia about the case of Dr. Bernard Moeller and his son, Lucas but apparently the story does not end there. There are other families that answered the call of the Australian government to bring their skills to a country that is experiencing shortages of skilled professionals. Now these families and their supporters are put in a postion to make appeals to the government to keep their families from being uprooted.

1. An employee of Nedlands Golf Club says he must leave the country within 28 days because the club will sponsor him but not his family.

His only other choice is to stay in Nedlands while his wife and daughter, who has Down syndrome, leave the country.

The club says it has no obligation to add the family of an employee to his extended work visa application.

Simon Tipple, a greenkeeper at the club, has been told that while the club will sponsor his visa application, it will not sponsor his family.

Mr Tipple’s daughter Abigail was born in Australia 20 months after he and wife Catharina arrived in Perth from the UK.
http://www.postnewspapers.com.au/20081108/news/002.shtml

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2. A HIGHLY regarded British midwife is being forced out of Australia because her Down syndrome child is considered a financial burden.
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,27574,24622247-2761,00.html

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3. Dr Bernhard Moeller moved with his family to Australia two and a half years ago to help fill a doctor shortage.

Dr Moeller has a temporary 457 visa which is valid until 2010, but has been denied permanent residency because the department believes his 13-year-old son Lukas would be a drain on the health system.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24580211-2862,00.html

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Down Syndrome Victoria stated in a press release in response to the Moeller case …
“No account is taken of the many ways in which people with Down syndrome and their families make a valuable contribution to the life of the community, she said It is outrageous that, in the same year the Australian Government ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, it is effectively stripping this young man of his human rights.”

I don’t know alot about the culture of Australia, the goverment or the state of services for the disabled but this just plain stinks.

Refusing application for permanent residence in Australia on the basis of the cost to the taxpayers is outrageous and likely these three instances are just the tip of the iceburg.

Related Story in Canada …
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1042628/Emigrating-British-family-turned-away-Canada-daughter-7-disabled.html