The Liberal candidate for the highly marginal seat of Eden-Monaro has stood behind his support for a refugee family that has become a flashpoint in a political debate over Australia's immigration policy.
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Dr Jerry Nockles reiterated previous comments that the Murugappan family from Biloela, a town in central Queensland, should be allowed to stay in the country and must be "protected" at all costs.
Dr Nockles wrote an opinion piece for The Sydney Morning Herald in June 2021, before he was a Liberal candidate, which argued that "we have a legal and moral obligation to allow Biloela girls to stay" after photos were published of Tharnicaa, the youngest daughter, in hospital with a serious blood infection.
Since then, the Murugappan family have been moved from a Christmas Island detention to a Perth detention as they hope to be released from detention under special ministerial powers of immigration minister Alex Hawke.
Circumstances have also changed for Dr Nockles' as a Liberal candidate for Eden-Monaro.
While he was a step away from joining the growing number of MPs and candidates on all sides of politics arguing for the family's return, he stood by his value that Tharnicaa and Kopika should be prioritised.
"Children are children first and foremost, before anything else...and we need to protect children," he said.
The sisters have been "subjected to ... politicisation" in Dr Nockles' view and from his experience of serving for 24 years in the navy, argues "this is not a consequence free policy area".
"We don't actually assist either people in detention or these children in similar circumstances by turning the volume up on those discussions," he said.
"The best chance of getting good outcomes for all of these people is to do it quietly and without fanfare and that's the point I was trying to make in that op-ed."
Dr Nockles maintains the parents, Nadesalingam and Kokilapathmapriya Murugappan, "weren't owed protection" as he noted last year.
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There is a growing list of Coalition MPs calling for the Biloela family to be returned home in Queensland, including Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce who reaffirmed his support on the wombat trail on April 24.
"My position remains the same, I try to remain cognisant of this, the position I have in Biloela or central Queensland is the same I have in Canberra," Mr Joyce said.
Other Coalition members supporting the resettlement of the family include moderate Liberals Katie Allen and Trent Zimmerman in addition to Ken O'Dowd, the outgoing member for Flynn whose electorate takes Biloela.
The Labor party has promised to resettle the family if they formed government as shadow home affairs minister Kristina Keneally visited the family in Western Australia on Sunday.
Immigration policy could be a potential area of interest for Dr Nockles if he is elected as he has always had "an interest in people on the move".
Dr Nockles does not want to see a return to the people smuggling trade in Australia but he does "want to see Australia as a generous nation".
"I want to see us pursue that regional framework and encourage other countries to adopt the conventional refugees," he said.
Originally serving in the navy for 24 years, Dr Nockles spent 12 of them at sea and was involved in border security operations under the Howard government during the early 2000s, describing it as "some of the most difficult periods of [his] time at sea".
The Howard government in September 2001 had introduced the Migration Amendment Bill which put in place third country offshore processing.
This work that Dr Nockles carried out while serving in the navy had moments that were "absolutely heart wrenching".
"To see those people and to look into their faces was extremely difficult. I mean, just unbelievably difficult," he said.
From September 2001 to 2008, a total of 1637 people were detained in Nauru and Manus Island and 70 per cent were either resettled in Australia or other countries which is something Dr Nockles remains proud for his contribution.
"I think by adopting that suite of policies that the Howard government did, it saved 1000s of lives. It shut that dreadful trade down and it really is a dreadful trade," he said.
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