Australia objects to doctor's ill daughter

A leading British doctor has been turned down by Australian immigration authorities because his daughter has cystic fibrosis.

Dr Ian Power, an authority on pain management, was headhunted by a Sydney hospital after a successful lecture tour and planned to emigrate with his wife Eunice, 37, and daughters Anna, five, and Eilidh, three. Their application was rejected because of Eilidh's illness.

Dr Power, 36, a senior lecturer in anaesthetics at the University of Wales hospital in Cardiff, said: 'My wife and I are both hurt and upset. The Australians were very keen to get the benefits of my time and experience, but they did not want my daughter.'

The family's immigration application was sponsored by the University of Sydney, which is linked to the city's Royal North Shore hospital where Dr Power, of Radyr, Cardiff had been offered a professorship.

Eilidh was given a routine medical at the request of immigration authorities, who were aware of her illness.

Jim Payne, a spokesman for the Australian High Commission, said: 'In these cases it is a matter of weighing up the likely cost to the Australian taxpayer. We have a health scheme with limited resources and we have to consider that against the benefit of allowing a family to emigrate to Australia.'