Labor and crossbenchers could walk away from PM’s refugee medical panel

Labor and key crossbenchers have left the door open to walking away from a newly announced government proposal to allow refugees into Australia with the sign off of two doctors.

• PM’s asylum seeker medical transfer shift

Labor and key crossbenchers have left the door open to walking away from a proposal to allow boat people into Australia with the sign off of two doctors.

But Scott Morrison may have to wait until parliament resumes next week to find out whether his desperate bid to avoid a historic defeat on the floor has succeeded.

The government announced it would establish a new medical review panel which would automatically scrutinise every decision to block the medical transfer of refugees and asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru to Australia.

Scott Morrison announced the proposed medical review panel yesterday. Picture: Rob Blakers

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In a letter to Labor leader Bill Shorten, Mr Morrison warns that security agencies have provided “clear advice” that the Greens and independent proposal due to be voted on next week would “effectively end offshore processing”.

“I therefore urge you once again to heed the advice of our security agencies and reject the amendments from the Senate,” Mr Morrison wrote.

The Nibok refugee settlement on Nauru. Picture: Jason Oxenham

The prime minister denied the new panel was a backflip but in his letter to Mr Shorten conceded “Australians are seeking greater assurance about the health care that is being made available to those who continue to live in PNG and Nauru”.

Mr Shorten said he was “prepared to look at the detail” of what the government was proposing.

“To me what matters is the way we treat people who we have a duty of care to treat properly,” he said.

Victorian MP Cathy McGowan, whose vote on the Greens and independent proposal was crucial, yesterday said she would wait until next week to confirm how she would vote but that she welcomed the government listening to the crossbench.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten said he was “prepared to look at the detail” of the proposal. Picture: Rob Blakers

“Providing support for refugees while keeping our borders secure does not mean we should treat people in anything less than a humane way,” she said.

Independent MP Kerryn Phelps, who campaigned on speeding up medical transfers during the Wentworth by-election, said the government’s announcement was a “recognition that the system is broken” but didn’t go far enough.

“It’s not going to solve the problem because we still have bureaucrats making the medical decisions and then being reviewed by a medical panel,” she told the ABC.