After returning home to Biloela, the Nadesalingams welcomed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to central Queensland.
Mr. Albanese was greeted by the asylum seekers’ family in Gladstone on Wednesday after they were released from immigration detention following the Labor government election.
The Sri Lankan family of four had traveled about 120 kilometers from their city to meet the Prime Minister and give him flowers for their freedom.
Photos posted to Twitter show Mr. Albanese and the family warmly embraced.
“So nice to meet the Nadesalingam family today. They are finally home, Tharnicaa and Kopika are going to school, and the Biloela community has welcomed a much-loved family,” wrote Mr. Albanese.
During the election campaign, Labor promised that if elected, the family would be allowed to return home to Biloela after four years of detention.
So nice to meet the Nadesalingam family today. They are finally home, Tharnicaa and Kopika are going to school, and the Biloela community has welcomed a much-loved family. pic.twitter.com/eBS610f5Zf
— Anthony Albanian (@AlboMP) June 15, 2022
The cabinet met in the regional city during the Prime Minister’s first visit to Queensland since winning the election last month.
“That will inform our decisions before parliament resumes in July,” he said of the community meeting held alongside cabinet talks.
Gladstone is in Flynn’s Queensland seat, who kept the coalition despite a move to Labour.
Although Labor won no new seats in the Sunshine State, the Prime Minister said Queensland remains important.
“I want to represent people, no matter how they voted. I want a government that works for all Australians wherever they live,” he said.
Listening ‘to people on the ground.’
Former politicians, including Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Queensland Prime Minister Peter Beattie, have previously used regional cabinet meetings to take ministers out of their city comfort zones and engage directly with voters.
“We have not been given two ears and one mouth for nothing; we have to listen to the people on the ground,” said the prime minister.
Mr. Albanian highlighted regional jobs as part of a pitch to move towards more renewable energy and net-zero emissions by 2050.
He said the October budget will fulfill pledges made to regional Australia during the campaign.
“We know that the cost of housing, for example, is a big pressure in the regions … (rising) higher than for people in the cities,” he said.
Dutton takes his team to Perth.
Meanwhile, opposition leader Peter Dutton has chaired his first shadow cabinet meeting and brought his team to Perth.
“It allows us to hear the messages as we were clearly disappointed with the results here in WA in the last election, so there is still a lot to build up to,” he said.
Labor took four extra seats in WA, where the Liberals already have a tiny presence in the state parliament after the party’s break-up by Labor Prime Minister Mark McGowan.
Nationals leader David Littleproud said the new shadow ministry provided an opportunity for generational change and renewal but also leveraged the experience of parliamentarian veterans.
