One of my adult daughters is helping me to write this piece while I’m away on holiday without access to a computer. I dictate sentences over the phone, requesting additional research and that lines be read back to me. Admittedly it’s an unusual sort of Father’s Day gift but I actually prefer it to a new tie or more footy paraphernalia.

My daughters are good citizens. They were raised by a loving family, they grew up in a safe home and benefited from being part of a close-knit, supportive community. During their short lives, Kopika and Tharunicaa, the Queensland-born daughters of Priya and Nadesalingam, have enjoyed these same essential ingredients of a happy childhood. Or at least they did until they were taken into detention.

These children, currently at risk of deportation by the Australian government, recall no other life than that spent happily in the regional town of Biloela. The town has welcomed this migrant family’s arrival, embracing Priya, Nade, Kopika and Tharunicaa as their own.

Locals are now fighting Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton’s decision to deport them, despite his colleague Immigration Minister David Coleman’s possession of a power to let them stay. A power, which it’s been reported, he would exercise were it not for Minister Dutton’s disapproval. Coleman's spokeswoman has denied this account.