Biloela residents have travelled to Canberra to make a direct plea to Prime Minister Scott Morrison to allow a Tamil family detained on Christmas Island to return to live in their central Queensland town.
The town's residents are urging the prime minister to intervene to stop the planned deportation of parents Priya and Nadesalingam and their two children Kopika, 4, and Tharnuicaa, 2.
Friends of the family, Angela Fredericks and Bronwyn Dendle, are at Parliament House to present a petition signed by more than 250,000 people supporting their campaign to allow the family to stay in Australia.