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 …