A grandmother who has lived in Australia for 40 years but faces deportation to Britain is launching a last-ditch bid to stay in Australia.
Mary Philomena Ellis, 74, is also at risk of up to ten years in prison after an explosive MailOnline investigation uncovered gaps in her story.
Ms Ellis appeared on television and begged the Department of Home Affairs to allow her to stay in Australia after she was threatened with deportation after claiming she had misrepresented her continuous residence in the country since arriving from Britain.
She said Home Affairs claims that she left Australia three times under an alias between 1983 and 1986 were false, as were allegations that her late husband, Martin Ellis, was actually a man called Trevor Warren.
By her own account, Mrs Ellis first arrived in Australia in December 1981 following a marriage breakdown and began a relationship with Martin Ellis.
Ms Ellis said she was “terrified” to return to Britain because she “didn’t know anyone” there and declared: “I’m Australian.”
He said he had paid taxes in Australia and had a Medicare card, a pension card and an Australian driver’s licence.
Daily Mail Australia understands there are no “compassionate grounds” on which the Immigration Minister can intervene in Mary’s attempt to obtain an “absorbed person” visa.
However, under the Migration Act, the minister could decide to intervene in Mary’s case if he believes it is “in the public interest”.
Ms Ellis or her immigration agent, Stan Shneider, could request the minister’s intervention in writing, and Mr Shneider has now said he would do so.
In a statement, the Department of Home Affairs said: “Non-citizens… who have no right to remain in Australia are expected to leave.”
Mary Ellis will appeal to the minister after explosive evidence means she would not be entitled to “absorbed citizenship” because she re-entered Australia after 1984.
Mary was born in England and has 10 siblings still living in the UK, but she wants to stay in Australia and says she is Australian after 40 years living and working here.
It comes after MailOnline used genealogy research to track down Mary’s ten siblings living in the UK and her estranged daughter, Angela, who effectively torpedoed Mary’s claims, saying her mother had flown to the UK in 1986. to sell his house in Croydon, Surrey.
The explosive evidence means Mary would not be entitled to “absorbed citizenship” because she re-entered Australia after 1984.
The crucial requirement for absorbed citizenship is that Ms Ellis would only be eligible if she has been in Australia since April 2, 1984 and has not left the country since.
Ms Ellis shared “evidence” that she had been working in Australia between 1983 and 1986 and denied all of Angela’s claims, including the fact that she had once lived in Croydon or owned a sweet shop with Trevor Warren in Catford in London.
She said she had never heard of Catford, that she knew someone called Trevor Warren, and when presented with the idea that she was friends on Facebook with many of her 10 siblings, she said they did not live in Britain “but in other countries around the world.” world”. .
“It’s all rubbish,” Ms Ellis told Daily Mail Australia, calling again to say: “I don’t remember anything from before I came to Australia.”
Mary’s estranged daughter Angela Potter (above) said her mother last visited the UK in 1986 and that she and her partner Trevor Warren ran a sweet shop in Catford, but Mary disagrees.
Mary had been married to British soldier Sean McHugo, but the marriage failed and Mr McHugo (above, marrying his second wife in June 1988) has since died.
The Australian Federal Police told Daily Mail Australia that it did not comment on individual cases, but had “a number of charges for people who allegedly attempted to use erroneous or misleading details to enter or leave Australia.”
Penalties can include prison terms of between 12 months and 10 years.
According to MailOnline research, Mary Philomena Walker was born in Croydon, in 1949, the eldest of 11 children.
Mary (left), in the Australian sun, loves the lifestyle here and says it is her home, but will now have to appeal to Immigration Minister Andrew Giles (right) to intervene in her case.
She was just 19 when she married soldier Sean McHugo in Lambeth, south London, in 1968, and their daughter Angela was born in the same area the following year.
Angela’s brother David McHugo is believed to have been born in 1971, although no record of his birth could be found in England and Wales.
Ms Ellis claims the marriage broke down and she began a relationship with Martin Ellis, a name the Australian government now claims was actually an alias.
His real name was Trevor Warren, which his daughter, now Angela Potter, seemed to confirm, saying that under that name he and her mother ran a sweet shop in Catford.
Mary is Facebook friends with her brother, Catholic deacon Mike Walker, 67, from Caversham, Reading.
Angela Potter said she had not seen her 74-year-old mother since 1986, when Mary returned to sell her house and then make the final move back to Australia to live.
Angela Potter (right) came to Australia with her brother David to live with their mother, but as a teenager she “absolutely hated it” and returned to England to live to this day.
Recalling the circumstances in which her mother left the UK with her two children and her partner Trevor Warren, who later changed his name to Martin Ellis, Angela said: “I haven’t seen my mother since I was 17.
‘She and Trevor, her partner at the time, had always wanted to go to Australia. Trevor had at least one sister living there, maybe two.
‘Mum and Trevor went to Australia first as a trial. Then we all went out as a family.
But my brother and I hated it there. I absolutely hated it. I was only there about eight months.
‘I was about 15 at the time and I came back to the UK and lived with an aunt. My brother returned and joined the British Army.
“The first time I found out she might be expelled from Australia was when my brother, who now lives in Australia despite hating it the first time, sent me a Whatsapp with a link to the story.
“We haven’t talked, but my brother is still in touch.”
Mary is a popular figure in her community due to the time she spends volunteering and raising money for the Salvation Army, as well as having worked in home care.
Stan Shneider represented Mary pro bono (above, the two of them) and intends to petition the minister in writing to intervene in her case.
Applications to the Federal Immigration Minister, Andrew Giles, asking him to exercise his powers to intervene in the Mary Ellis case must address specific reasons for doing so and state why it would be in the public interest.
Ms Ellis’ case is the latest controversy for the department, after it was caught off guard by a High Court decision to release more than 140 asylum seekers, many of whom had been jailed for murder or sexual offenses against children. , who wore satellite tracking anklets in the community. .
Under the Migration Act, the minister can exercise discretionary powers to modify processes for character reasons.
Mary is a popular figure in her community due to the time she spends volunteering and raising money for the Salvation Army, a charity that supports those in need.
She has worked with Aboriginal people in home care and has a deep interest in Australian politics, culture and current events.
‘This is my home; I want an Australian passport. Even then I wouldn’t visit the UK again, I love it here,” she said.
‘I’m a good person, I’ve paid my taxes. I think the minister is a good person but… yes, I’m anxious.’