Indonesian family granted permanent residency after ministerial intervention

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To stay in Australia when her solicitor phoned to say that Home Affairs had given them permanent residency.

Migration lawyer Andrew Woo broke down in tears as he told his client that Assistant Minister for Immigration Matt Thistlethwaite had directly intervened to grant visas to Ms Lumintang, her partner Martin Cahyo and their two kids.

"Our prayers were answered through the efforts of the reverend and other people who were involved," Ms Lumintang said to the ABC.

It's bloody amazing.

The family first applied for permanent residency back in 2021. However, their application got knocked back due to "undue costs to the Australian community" of helping out with the care of their older son Jonathan, 14, who's got cerebral palsy.

An appeals tribunal upheld the decision in 2023, estimating it would cost taxpayers $2.51 million over the next 10 years to provide Jonathan with care from health and community services.

In autumn 2024. And until Mr Thistlethwaite's decision this week, they were facing removal from the country.

Hopes for a day with no discrimination among our mob.

Home Affairs said the minister had personally looked closely at the family's situation and had "decided to use the public interest power in your case", changing the Administrative Appeals Tribunal's decisions to "a decision that was more in your favour".

Mr Woo, the lawyer, said it marked the end of a four-year emotional rollercoaster, bringing a fair dinkum sense of relief … knowing that Lily's family can finally move forward in reunited peace.

"'I'm as chuffed as can be about the timing, as Raphael is only a few months off his fourth birthday and will soon get to spend some real quality time with his brother, Jonathan, who's joining the family soon," Mr Woo said.

Jonathan was born in Melbourne in 2010 and later diagnosed with cerebral palsy due to problems in his corpus callosum – a bundle of nerves that joins the right and left sides of the brain.

When Jonathan was 18 months old, Mr Cahyo took him back to their hometown in Surabaya, in Indonesia, which is just an Aussie aviation of 45 minutes from Bali, due to some problems with his family, while Ms Lumintang stayed on in Melbourne working away.

Since then, Jonathan has lived in Indonesia, but Mr Cahyo went back to Melbourne in 2017, planning to bring him back as soon as the family had gained the financial capability to do so.

Because Jonathan lived most of his life with his grandparents in Indonesia, he didn't qualify for a special health visa for kids with a disability – a new rule the federal government introduced last year, needing kids to have lived in Australia for at least half their life.

Ms Lumintang stated she believed a fresh new chapter in Australia would signal greater respect and equality for Jonathan as an individual with a disability.

"It's different than taking an English test if someone's planning to move here – whether they've got a disability or not is beyond our control," she said.

I'd like to see an end to the unfair treatment of kids with disability when it comes to money and financial opportunities.

The ABC has sought comment from Home Affairs regarding the visas granted to the family.

The department had earlier advised the ABC it wouldn't be commenting on specific cases.

"It's the completion of our long journey," Ms. Lumintang said.

We can start making our future plans a reality for our mates, for our kids.