A small town in the state's northwest is fighting to keep a local family in their community. The Ateps from Papua New Guinea have been given until the 13th of December to leave the country after an unsuccessful visa application. It's a disappointing end to a 5-year process.
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00:00When the Ateps moved to northern New South Wales in 2019, Bingoora became their home.
00:09Rosemary upskilled from her cleaning job to become an assistant in aged care.
00:13Her husband Petrus works at the local supermarket and the kids are settled in school.
00:18People are friendly.
00:19You can move around at will.
00:22There's no fear of going around in Bingoora.
00:24Before moving to Bingoora, they applied for a protection visa.
00:28I come from a place called Mount Argonne.
00:31I had a little rental company and somebody had my car and once he was on his way, he
00:38drove into a bridge and killed himself.
00:41So because I received some threats from these people, I had to come to Australia.
00:46But that bid has been rejected and they've been ordered to return to PNG.
00:52Locals say the Ateps are a vital part of the community.
00:55We're short on a lot of schools in Australia, let alone the bush, where we're frightfully
01:00short of them.
01:01I'm working 80 to 90 hours a fortnight.
01:03I am a call on staff every day.
01:05During my off days, I'm always called in because there's someone sick.
01:10Some politicians are taking up their case, while more than 2,000 people have signed a
01:14petition calling for them to stay.
01:16To me, the system is unfair.
01:19We need them here.
01:20Thank you for letting them be here.
01:21Please make it permanent.
01:23The Department of Home Affairs wouldn't comment on this case specifically due to privacy reasons.
01:27It told the ABC it does not consider an applicant's skills when assessing a protection visa.
01:33The Ateps say they consider the people of Bingoora their family.
01:37I'm going to leave my family behind, that's what I'm thinking, if I have to go.
01:41But I don't want to go.
01:42Unless the Minister intervenes, the family's time in Australia will end in mid-December.