Doctor with Down son denied immigration

From Medina: The country Australia and foreign doctors are having a tug-of-war match. On the one hand, due to a critical shortage of doctors (especially in rural and regional communities), foreign doctors and nurses are being brought in to help meet the demand for health care professionals. On the other hand, these immigrant doctors must be allowed to live in the country--along with their families--if they are to practice effectively.

Unfortunately for them, according to the article, Australian officials are not making this easy on the doctors. One doctor from Germany, Thomas Kossman, was suspended last year and accused of "over-billing and carrying out complex surgery he was untrained for," according to MSNBC.com. Kossman, however, claims that he was the victim of a witch-hunt started by jealous rivals.

The doctor highlighted in this article is another German doctor by the name of Bernhard Moeller. To date, he has lived in a rural community in Australia for two years on a temporary visa in order to help alleviate the doctor shortage. However, when he sought immigration status, permission to achieve citizenship was denied due to Moeller's youngest son having Down Syndrome. The reason given was that the son, Lukas (age 13), failed his health tests and was judged by immigration officials as "likely to be a permanent drain on taxpayer funding due to his condition." The family is currently taking action to have the decision overturned.

I understand how Australian officials might be apprehensive about allowing immigrants to enter the country who might create a heavier burden on--instead of helping to alleviate--the nation-wide health care crisis. However, if this health care crisis really is as dire as the article makes it out to be, then beggars cannot be choosers. Furthermore, this is a family that has already lived in the country for two years. One might argue that since they may already be paying some kind of taxes and contributing to their community, doesn't that already make them Australian citizens in some form?