David Lee says he is “over the moon” after winning a last-minute bid to stay in Australia.
The Malaysian-born 34-year-old has lived in Adelaide for ten years.
He was told two weeks ago his bid for permanent residency had been rejected, and he faced deportation if he did not leave the country before June 20.
But after an online petition gathered more than 14,000 signatures, Mr Lee was told the Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Alex Hawke had personally intervened, and the decision had been overturned.
Mr Lee, a University of Adelaide graduate and musician who has been blind since birth, said he was very relieved to hear the news.
“[I feel] a great sense of relief that the Federal Government is listening to the people of Australia,” he said.
South Australian Dignity Party MLC Kelly Vincent welcomed the move, but said she hoped Mr Lee’s case would spark changes to migration laws.
She said the federal government needed to act on its own recommendations, citing findings from a 2010 Senate Committee which found current policy for migrants with a disability were discriminatory and needed urgent amending.
“It’s absolutely outrageous that, seven years later, we still haven’t seen action on that inquiry,” she said.
She said changes should be made to reduce assumptions that migrants with a disability would automatically put a large burden on taxpayers.
“That includes raising the significant cost threshold to take better consideration of what financial supports a person with disability actually needs or does not need in order to remain in Australia,” she said.
“And also raising health requirements as well, so we get a more accurate picture of the person’s support needs and we don’t just assume that because they have a disability they’re a burden on the taxpayer and they’re not welcome here.”
The Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Alex Hawke, told SBS World News in a statement the government does not intend to change the laws.
“A disability or medical condition does not in itself result in a failure to meet the health requirement,” he said, adding that active tuberculosis is the only medical condition that automatically precludes the granting of a visa.
“There is currently no plan to change the health requirement for visa applicants.”
