The people of Yarra Glen in Victoria's Yarra Valley are desperate to find a doctor. This callous and uncaring treatment by the immigration department of a good overseas trained doctor who's education has not cost us a cent makes me ashamed to be an Australian who values a fair go and appreciates those who help us. He is willing to help country people who are in great need of medical help. This case is going to make it even harder for us to attract such medical help here.

I am ashamed of our immigration deptmartment. Our rural areas are screaming for dedicated docs. Let them stay and be part of that community please. How does his son impact on his valued work? I will sign any petition to keep the family here. This is disgraceful of our Govt. beaurocracy. DO something!

What a ludicrous decision. Here we have a well paid professional who has no need to depend on the welfare system of the country. So how can he drain our resources! If anything he is a positive resource for the people of Mildura and the AMA in being able to provide a health service to Australians. Isn't this just plain discrimination? Our human rights are supposed to protect people from such behaviour..... which should start with the government acting appropriately. I support the petition to allow the good doctor and his family to remain in Australia.

Following forwarded to the minister. Dear sir, The immigration department's handling of Dr Bernhard Moeller and his youngest son Lukas is appalling. Such discrimination would be illegal in other areas and should be here. Dr Moeller should not have to appeal the decision. The department should apologise and immediately offer permanent residency. James Grubb

I saw this story on the Today Show this morning and it just wrenched at my heart. This family has already contributed so much to the area (ex Wimmera resident) and we all know how hard it is to retain qualified/professionals to country areas. I do not believe Lukas would be a "burden" to the community - what a lovely young lad. And anybody who knows anything about down syndrome would know that these wonderful people contribute so much to society as a whole - just loving, happy souls!! The immigration department needs to reconsider this disgusting decision. If you have a petition going, please put my name to it. Marlene McBain Adelaide SA

My heartfelt sympathy goes to the Moeller family and to the community of Horsham. Having been through a two-and-a-half year tussle with the Immigration Department myself, I know how unsettling it is to be a committed, active and productive member of a community and yet be denied the right to bond with that community in the longer term. The suggestion that this case is somehow less heartbreaking because the Moellers have visas until 2010 misses the vital point that it is very painful to live in, contribute to and bond with a community and a place for years in the knowledge that you will eventually be removed from it by forces outside of your control (and outside of the control of anyone in your community). Being single without children I can only imagine how much worse it is when this involves your young family, and especially when one of your children is singled out as unworthy of permanent settlement on the basis of a differential ability. Immigration policy is at times greatly at odds with the Australian values of decency, humanity and respect, not to mention the fair go. The mechanical bureaucratic process of visa application processing is inhumane in its inability to see key indicators of successful settlement such as the strength of the applicant's social networks and his/her involvement in unpaid work and other means of community engagement (according to which it is clear that Lukas has indeed very succesfully settled in). It is also shortchanging local communities by not giving agency to local considerations in the application process. I hope minister Evans will find a way to resolve this particular situation without the family and the community of Horsham having to wait for the lengthy review process. I also hope he will review the current skilled migration program to allow a less blindly-mechanical, more individually tailored approach, which I think is in the best interest of both applicants and Australian communities.

I am just disgusted at the government. Not letting a well needed Dr stay because of his son has Downs. Cost to the taxpayer???? It's just BS. They should listen to the Horsham community. I lived in the area for a short time and know how much this Dr is needed. I would gladly give my support in anyway possible. LET DR MOELLER AND HIS FAMILY STAY!!!

This is flat out disgusting and offends me in a variety of ways... People are worth more than a balance sheet of potential costs. And I guarantee that this doctor gives more than his fair share in real dollar value back to the community. Where did that value sit in the excel spreadsheet they use to determine someone's worth? We live in a society, not an economy. And the hypocrisy is nauseating. How can we BEG doctors to come out here and help our rural communities, and then refuse to let them stay and continue their work? Discrimination makes me rather angry as well, I can't stand to see or hear it on the train or in a newspaper, but to see it carried out at this level is terrifying. To deny him and his family residency because of his son's disability is discrimination perpetrated by the government (or government body), and it CANNOT be justified by potential costs that Lukas' condition MAY be responsible for in the future. And how great a leap is it to deny residency based on race, sex or age? I'm sure there are statistics (accurate or otherwise) that indicate that people of certain races are more prone to certain diseases, etc. Are we going to deny, let's say, British people residency? Because they may be more prone to skin cancer under our porous ozone layer? My partner is German, and worked really hard to jump through the hoops necessary to get her visa, and to think her permanent residency could be denied if someone decides that she's any kind of drain on taxpayers? You can't measure the value that a person has as a citizen with a number or a dollar sign. Add to that that my sister has a disability, and I have lived and worked with her, and people like Lukas all my life. I find it sickening that people with disabilities are being reduced to a deficit in someone's 'worth' or 'value' to the country, BY OUR GOVERNMENT. I hope this decision gets turned around, and I also hope that this case throws a spotlight on the department responsible, forcing them to clean up their act and start treating people as people.

If you are going to use cold-hearted logic then you would have to calculate that because a doctor actually saves people (or 'taxpayers') there is very good chance of a net gain in Federal income, more than offsetting any treatment costs that their child might / might not need in the future.

Essentially the government is saying that a person's worth to our society is only judged based on their future medical costs? And of course, they are able to predict for everyone entering this country what that cost will be - well that is rather clever of them. On one hand it seems that it is OK for the taxpayers to spend millions on local and international aid - as this is helping people - an on the other hand people are valuable to our society as long as they don't cost us much? Because imparting of human values does count - heard of compassion? Obviously not. I hope that someone sees the 'light' in this case. My best wishes for the family and the community.