After four years in detention, an asylum-seeking family will be allowed to stay in Australia, according to Australia’s federal government.

On Friday, interim home affairs minister Jim Chalmers announced that the Murugappan family will be permitted to return to their hometown of Biloela in central Queensland, signalling a shift under the incoming Labor administration.

After coming in Australia by boat, Nades Murugappan and his wife, Priya, married in Australia and settled in Biloela in 2014, where their daughters were born.

After Priya’s visa expired and Nades’ asylum claim was denied, the Australian Border Force (ABF) deported the family from Biloela in March 2018.They’ve spent the previous four years in detention in Melbourne, Christmas Island, and, most recently, Perth, where any attempt to deport them is being challenged in court.

“The consequence of my intervention allows the family to return to Biloela, where they may live legitimately in the community on bridging visas while they strive to resolve their immigration status,” Chalmers said in a statement.

“Operation Sovereign Borders and pushing human traffickers out of business are top priorities for this government.”

The coalition had ruled out allowing the family to stay in Australia despite the fact that their children were born there, claiming that doing so would promote further boat arrivals.

The Labor Party, on the other hand, promised to assist the family in the run-up to its general election triumph on Saturday.

On Friday morning, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated that “you can have strong borders without being weak on humanity.”

“Both of these young ladies were born in Australia. In Biloela, Nades works as a meat worker. We have a hard time finding meat employees. In our meat processing plant, we hire temporary workers “He notified the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) about it (ABC).

“And they want this family to return to Biloela, as does the community. And it would be a very reasonable consequence.”