What do Clive Palmer and 19,000 refugees who are now allowed access to permanent visas have in common? Very little, but he is the reason a large portion of them ended up in regional Australia.
So how did this happen?
It all started when the Liberal Party won the 2013 election and Tony Abbott took the top job from Kevin Rudd.
The Abbott government put forward legislation to resurrect Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs), a Howard-era policy that was abolished under the Rudd government.
It meant refugees who had arrived by boat prior the implementation of Operation Sovereign Borders would never be given a permanent visa.
Their temporary status meant they could not access tertiary education without paying expensive international fees, be eligible for a home or business loan, or sponsor relatives in dangerous situations to seek asylum in Australia.
Refugee Council of Australia chief executive Paul Power said TPVs were a "policy of punishment".
"The chances are actually pretty small that things will change and people will be able to return [to their countries of origin]," Mr Power said.
"These are people who are in effect going to live in the country for the rest of their lives, but actually denied access to permanent protection."
'Wheeling and dealing' got TPVs through
Then-immigration minister Scott Morrison was attempting to pass the legislation in the senate but needed support from some crossbenchers to get it across the line.
"The idea came from Clive Palmer," Mr Power said.
"It was his contribution to the wheeling and dealing that went on behind the scenes for Scott Morrison to get the temporary protection legislation through the parliament."
Mr Palmer agreed to support TPVs under the condition they introduce a second class of visa known as Safe Haven Enterprise Visa (SHEV), which would allow refugees a pathway to resettlement if they lived and worked in regional Australia.
And it worked. As of December last year, of the 19,693 people with temporary refugee status, 14,294 were on SHEVs.
The most popular locations were regional New South Wales and Victoria.
The difference between a TPV and a SHEV
Mr Power said SHEVs were five-year visas instead of three.
"If you live and work in regional Australia for three-and-a-half of those five years, you could theoretically have access to a non-humanitarian visa of some sort," he said.
"The problem was that the pathways to those non-humanitarian visas largely didn't exist."
In fact, an ABC report from last year found that only one out of 13,000 refugees on a SHEV were granted a permanent visa.
Living in 'limbo land'
Mr Power said people had been living with the "threat of forced return" to their countries of origin for the past decade.
"They're actually still living as refugees, not as people who once were refugees and are able to get on with the rest of their lives," he said.
But in long-awaited news, last week the Labor government followed through on its election promise to allow 19,000 refugees on temporary visas to apply for permanent residency.
Refugee advocate and author Philp Lako knows firsthand just how challenging arriving in Australia as a refugee is, having fled his country of origin, South Sudan, to escape a war that lasted for 21 years.
"I did not know how to turn on the gas cooker in the house," Mr Lako said.
"I did not even know how to cook."
Unlike refugees on temporary visas, Mr Lako was able to sponsor his family to come to Australia, but it still took three years, a time in which he suffered.
"That was a long time," he said.
"I experienced a lot of post-traumatic stress disorder and that time was reminding me of despair.
"I would refuse to go to bed thinking that if I close my eyes and fall asleep, I may not wake up."
Mr Lako said the government's decision to change TPVs showed "humanity".
"It's going to restore hope and dignity and self-esteem and self-worth as well," he said.
"It's almost unfathomable that you could actually have a policy that deliberately separates families."
Anita Nathan lives in Kalgoorlie-Boulder in WA's Goldfields region.
As the chairperson of the Goldfields Multicultural Community Organisation, she helps settle refugees and migrants in the outback mining town, linking them with essential services, helping them find work and friendships.
She said now these 19,000 people were no longer living in "limbo land" and could access tertiary education, there was potential to help fill gaps in skilled labour in regional Australia.
"There are a lot of local businesses in town who would love to actually assist in training for the skill shortages in Kalgoorlie, for these refugees," Ms Nathan said.
"If they can actually get trained in the skills shortage and come to Kalgoorlie that will be a life changer for them."
Permanent visas could benefit regional Australia
Mr Power said there were refugees with degrees and qualifications from their countries of origin, but it was difficult for them to have them accredited in Australia.
"We're actually talking directly to the government about how the qualification systems, the accreditation systems, are not working for people who have a lot to offer," he said.
Mr Lako works at a mine in the Goldfields and said many refugees would feel more comfortable in regional Australia, as many would have come from rural areas.
"It's probably beneficial for refugees to start in the regions, at least that way the surrounding is a little bit familiar to where they come from," he said.
Ms Nathan agreed that refugees gravitated towards regional areas as there were more job opportunities and it was often more affordable than living in a major city.
But she said there needed to be programs in place to support their social, emotional and financial wellbeing.
"We are doing our best here for the refugees and asylum seekers, based on their bravery and struggle that they have gone through all these years, but we do need more support," she said.
Mr Lako is relieved to know that 19,000 others, like himself, are able to dream again.
"In the last 10 years, these individuals have actually been questioning their identity and their self-worth as human beings, and their contribution to this country that appears to promise so much, but at the same time is actually demonstrating very little," he said.
"The Albanese government has definitely made a very crucial, life changing decision, which I believe is going to transform lives for years to come."
