Ms Murugappan said her family was “a little bit relaxed” after hearing they would not have to stay longer on Christmas Island.

“My mind is always thinking of my Biloela community,I miss them lots. I hope one day to get back to Biloela,” she told the Nine Network. “This is[a] small freedom but I like my community back in Biloela.”

Family friend Angela Fredericks,an organiser of the Home to Bilo campaign,said reuniting the family was an important first step but it wasn’t home.

She hoped the community detention arrangement in Perth would only be temporary.

“Community detention is no guarantee of safety and peace for this family,” Ms Fredericks said.

“Nades is keen to get back to work in Biloela to support his young family,which he cannot do while the family is forced into community detention. Priya wants to enrol Kopika at Biloela State School to continue her education. And we promised little Tharni a big birthday party when she got home.”

She said the minister appeared to have linked the community detention to the continuing legal action,but the courts didn’t have the power to assess the merits of the family’s refugee claims.

Liberal MP Ken O’Dowd,whose electorate of Flynn covers Biloela,was pleased to see the family reunited,but fears the “lawyers’ picnic” that has gone on could continue for another 12 months or more.

“They could actually go home. There hasn’t been any war in Sri Lanka … it’s perfectly safe so they could go home and apply to come back in because we’re short of workers in Biloela,” he toldThe Sydney Morning Herald andThe Age.

Colleague Warren Entsch made similar comments to the Coalition’s party room meeting on Tuesday morning,saying he feared lawyers were exploiting the children when courts had found the parents were not refugees.

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