‘I’m alone’: grandfather says to still deny adult children entry to Australia is ‘a slap in the face’

Stewart Hayter is at his wits' end.

You can hear it in his voice, which breaks with emotion as he recalls the two years he's spent separated from his UK-based daughter Charley, his severely autistic grandson Tyler, eight, and his granddaughter Annabella, seven, who also lives with autism.

Where so many other families were given a reprieve from border restrictions allowing them to reunite before Christmas, Hayter's nightmare has continued in a farcical fashion.

In October, the prime minister, Scott Morrison, announced he was opening the international border to immediate family members of Australians and permanent residents, so long as they were vaccinated.

But the rules create a bizarre situation. Currently, adult children of Australian residents are not considered immediate family, but the parents of Australian residents are.

That means Hayter's daughter is not allowed to travel to Australia without an exemption. Neither are her two children or her husband.

"I can cope with anything, you can throw me any situation and I'll deal with it," he said.

"But this is beyond me, and that's not something I say easily. So if it's having this effect on me, how does it affect eight-year-old little Tyler?"

The confusion was so significant that Hayter booked $7,000 worth of tickets for his family to fly to Australia in March which now cannot be used.

He's since watched on as Morrison opened up the country to working backpackers and students - telling them to "come on down".

"It's just a slap in the face. It says we don't give a stuff about your emotional health," he said. "I'll put it this way, I'm on my last reserves of emotional strength, and I have just enough to get to March. And I'm alone. I'm not lonely - I've got mates, good mates. I'm not lonely, I'm alone."

The current rules confine an "immediate family" member to someone's spouse, de facto partner, dependent child, or the parent of a dependent child.

It is unclear why the federal government is maintaining its limited definition of immediate family, given the widespread nature of Omicron, and the fact the border has been opened to virtually every category of temporary visaholders with imminent plans to open to tourists.

Questions to the immigration minister, Alex Hawke, were referred to the home affairs department, which repeated earlier statements about the need to protect Australia from Covid-19.

"Parents of adult Australian citizens and permanent residents, spouses, de facto partners, dependent children and legal guardians are all considered to be immediate family members for the purpose of exemptions to Australia's travel restrictions," a spokesperson said. "This ensures a path for Australians to travel to overseas and be reunited with friends and family, until Australia's restrictions are eased to allow further exemption-free international travel."

Tyler and Annabella's support workers in the UK wrote a supporting statement saying the trip to Australia would be crucial, not only for the grandchildren, who are extremely close to their grandfather, but also for their parents, who were in need of respite.

The supporting statement has done nothing to change the government's position.

Hayter has been told he must have his daughter, her husband and grandchildren apply for visas and then apply for travel exemptions. He has attempted to apply for visas for them and been told they are not eligible.

Travel exemptions are also rarely being granted. For holders of bridging visas, another group still facing a closed international border, roughly 70% of exemption requests are being denied.

A petition by people like Hayer was presented to parliament prior to Christmas, signed by more than 1,200 people in a similar situation.

"Covid has created a cruel divide for many families and it has caused further separation in that immediate family members have not been considered as such and have been unable to connect," it said. "Australia's population is multicultural and for all to thrive, immediate family members need to be recognised as such."