A Sri Lankan asylum seeker family is fighting to stay in Australia, but a court had previously found they were not in Australia to seek refuge.

A plane deporting the family to Sri Lanka was stopped mid-flight, after a last-minute court order was issued, with a hearing scheduled in the Federal Circuit Court.

The family had been living in the central Queensland community of Biloela for three years before they were put into immigration detention more than 12 months ago.

Authorities moved in last night, taking the family to Melbourne Airport where their plane took off just before 11pm.

There has been a fierce outcry about the deportation and even the federal Opposition has called on the government to make an exception.

But Ray Hadley says the family’s case was dismissed in the Appeals Tribunal because it found the father was able to return to Sri Lanka on three occasions during the civil war.

Furthermore, there was no evidence to suggest the family was under threat in their home country and therefore aren’t eligible for asylum.

“That’s one of many court decisions that illustrates that these people have told lies.

“If they’re not refugees, they’re not refugees. We can’t simply bend the rules because the group of people say they had two children here.”

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