Since 2018, the federal government has taken a stance that's difficult to defend.
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They have maintained the position that a young family, who were beloved in their hometown of Biloela, should be kept in detention while their refugee status is determined.
The family's two young daughters, both of whom were born in Biloela, have been with them in detention. They were the only two children in immigration detention in Australia.
That is until last week when the youngest, who has spent each of her three birthdays in detention, was airlifted to a Perth hospital after days of illness.
She spent her fourth birthday there.
This is what it has taken for dissenting opinions to begin to be seriously voiced by coalition MPs and other Australian politicians.
Bass Liberal MP Bridget Archer spoke up this week, advocating for a "compassionate" resolution for the family, though that could mean any number of things, including resettlement in another country.
Mainland MPs have also begun to voice their support for the family to be resettled, including Nationals MP Ken O'Dowd, whose electorate of Flynn takes in Biloela.
The family has also found surprising support in conservative corners including former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce and former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, though he has since rescinded his support.
Senator Jacqui Lambie last week said she was "floored" by the government's argument that locking the family up would deter people smuggler's, as stated by acting prime minister Michael McCormack.
Some politicians may have come to realise that to continue to impose such conditions on children is inhumane, unjustified and cruel. Maybe that is generous, and they are simply opportunistic and sense the tide of public opinion turning against them.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison believes his government's hardline stance on asylum seekers helped win recent elections, as evidenced by the boat on his desk, but this year it is just another issue in a pile which could help him lose the next.