NedKelly

Yes and rightly so. From what I know about the case, she was living here illegally when she tried to apply for an aged parents visa.
Had she applied during the time her long stay visa was valid, and before she became an illegal immigrant, she might very well have got it. Of course it was refused.

The immigration officials are NOT stupid, they follow the rules to ensure fair play. Don't blame the officials they do a hard job and I feel sorry for the poor official who had to deny this old lady the visa. Immigration Officials are human too and not without compassion. I am sure he would have agonised about it and would have looked at the rules to find a way he could grant a visa. This is the sort of dimwit response a theif might come up with after busting open a vending machine for the cash. "I had no choice officer, as I didn't have my bus fair home"

jayr

Unlike you...

baconmaster

Sad as the story is, she doesn't look a day over 102 though does she ?

NedKelly

Unable to respond with a sensible reply you reply with a personal comment.

You pathetic cretin.

jwatsonoz

This really pisses me off. Why don't the media get there story straight! When you read the letter that the department sent her you realise how helpful they were being.

I think they were going beyond their duties by explaining the different routes available to her. The almost suggested that allowing allowing the application to fail in and, therefore, the minister to make the decision would be the best option. They did obviousley have to state the risks.

Australian media is crap. They sensationalise everything and even drop in their own opinions! Media coverage should be objective and not specifically designed to whip up froth.

Lerop Pekill

Yeah, fair comment, she should have sorted this out years ago and she would not be in this mess, altho at 104 years old, how aware she is of it all is anyone's guess.

One other point, was the oldest women in the world not Chinese? what is it they are eating or drinking over there that keeps them going?

jayr

Mate, you're not worth the keystrokes.

NJJ

I heard several reports in the last week saying that she was unable to return to China when her visa expired as no airline would take the risk of transporting someone in her frail condition. Obviously in China the airlines have no such standing.

Bordy

I thought it was funny.

NJJ

Hey, and it's only taken you two years to work that one out?! (joke).

for the two weeks leading up to the F1 event last weekend all we got in the news here in Vic was "Won't it be great to see our F1 Aussie hero Mark Webber take it to the likes of Schumaccer & co" or so I seem to recall that baldy slap head bloke with the naselly voice from the Ch 7 breakfast show saying last friday.

Webber had won it already in the eyes of the media before the race had started. The same happened with hewit before the tennis final this year and also the unbearable hype surrounding that pitmann woman at the olympics last year.

ozzieeagle

Total agreement, post of the thread...

Although we had a similar thing here in Melbourne recently, albeit at the other end of the scale, With a 17 year old, thai national, that had spent around 10 years of his life here, growing up and going to school in Melbourne.

Consequently he could not read or write thai, His older brother and sister, had became Aussie nationals and were allowed to stay. He had to go back with His uncle I think it was. Despite the fact that locally there was a well publicised campaign by his school and schoolmates.

However he was told, that he almost certainly would be allowed to come back, once he had gone through due process. Which makes one wonder why they did send him back, As a lesson to others maybe, Bit harsh on him, Could be the press slant I Guess.

G'Day

Look, I've lived in countries that have been overrun by immigrants due to the bleeding-heart-syndrome. I've watched social services, medical services and government pension schemes collapse under the pressure of immigrants who had never contributed to and never would contribute in tax to the above. It is not a joke, there are reasons for the rules. This woman may not have known how to apply, but she and her family had to have been very well aware of the fact that she was in the country illegally. If she or they had gone to DIMIA prior to her visa lapsing and had gone to enquire as to how to get her into the country legally, they would have been provided with advise via an interpreter if needed. Since she has no family back in China it would have been no problem for her. They did none of the above, but instead hid her from authorities until they seemed to reckon her age made the stay a fait accompli. I also strongly suspect that the only reason they're making this fuss now is because she's costing them money and they want to offload the responsibility for her onto the taxpayer. No-one knew she was here until they raised the issue, so how would anyone have been any the wiser if she'd stayed around illegally until she died of natural causes?

This to me smacks of sneakiness and I cannot see why anyone should be allowed to get away with it 104 yo or not!

walla

I work in human services too and I've see the extra pressure migrants, illegal or not put on systems..

However in this case it's nice to see the Australian Government for once show a bit of leniency instead of the usual "thou shall not enter my country at any cost" syndrome.

For once I applaud little Johny Howard, only the once thou....

Australia doesn't have a particular good record on illegal imigration or asylum seekers. Does anyone recall the Tampa crisis back in 2001?

jayr

Did you mean immigrants or illegal immigrants? Furthermore I'm intrigued (seriously)which countries you are refering to given you say social services, pension schemes etc. collapsed. Are you refereing to places like Iran and Pakistan etc. which cope with some of the highest immigration rates?

Sunlover

"End of problem" for whom exactly ? The poor family members who were legally living in Australia and had to go back to living in China ?? I suspect that would have been the beginning of their problems !

-She came to Australia to visit her family as she had no family left in China.
-Tried to go back but was prevented to by the airlines as she was too old.
-Family tried to apply for an aged relative visa
-Visa refused
-Women became an "illegal" immigrant

Please explain why any of this was her or her family's fault ?

Australia's immigration laws with regard to parents are ridiculous and counter-productive:

In Canada people are encouraged to sponsor their parents and reunite their families, the view being that strong families produce happier, more productive skilled immigrants who are more likely to stay in Canada and contribute to her economy.

Australia takes the short-sighted selfish approach - if you're not of working age we don't want you.

Guess who has the stronger economy and the greater retention of skilled immigrants ? Not Australia......