Australian doctors call on parliament in open letter to save medevac laws
Thousands of doctors have signed an open letter urging Senator Jacqui Lambie to save the medevac laws, as they declared it should be them and not politicians who decide if asylum seekers need urgent medical care in Australia. WATCH QT LIVE
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More than 4500 doctors have signed an open letter urging Senate crossbencher Jacqui Lambie to save the so-called “medevac” laws.
The Labor-backed laws gave doctors a much greater say in bringing refugees in offshore detention to Australia for medical treatment.
The Morrison government wants to scrap the scheme by the end of next week, and needs support from Senator Lambie.
Professor David Isaacs of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians urged Senator Lambie to show humanity when casting her deciding vote.
“People are dying on Manus Island and Nauru and it’s extremely important that doctors are the ones who decide who comes to Australia for urgent medical care, not politicians,” he told reporters in Canberra.
Senator Lambie has indicated she wants to land a deal that amends the system without giving the government a full repeal.
But Professor Isaacs said it was crucial the laws remains untouched.
“Doctors are saying please keep the medevac bill as it is,” he said.
“The medevac bill is working, it is saving lives, it is getting desperately ill people to Australia.”
The letter presented to parliament supports calls made by 13 leading medical colleges to protect the legislation.
The repeal bill is expected to be debated by the Senate next week.
‘VIOLENT’ ASYLUM SEEKER APPROVED FOR MEDEVAC TRANSFER
An asylum seeker charged with domestic violence offences has been approved for medical transfer to Australia as the Morrison government attempts to repeal controversial medevac laws in the final parliamentary sittings of the year.
The Australian reports the man, who has been on Nauru since 2013 after attempting to reach Australia by boat, also faces allegations he tried to enter into a relationship with a 13-year-old girl.
A panel of independent doctors assessed the man, believe to be in his 30s, several weeks ago. He was approved for transfer and is awaiting a flight to Australia.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton was unable to intervene in the case because it did not meet criminal or national security risk thresholds, according to The Australian.
The federal government hopes Senator Jacqui Lambi will vote with them to repeal the medevac legislation.
It comes as asylum seeker advocates brought a 51,000-strong petition to Parliament House to try to convince senators not to scrap the medical evacuation laws.
They’ve warned Australia’s offshore immigration centres will again become “living graveyards” if the federal government succeeds in reversing the medevac legislation.
The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) is pleading with Senator Lambie to use her casting vote to keep it in place.
The Morrison government hopes to win her support to repeal the law, passed against its wishes in February, which makes it easier to bring refugees to Australia for medical treatment.
ASRC head Kon Karapanagiotidis says that contrary to the scary picture the government painted when the law passed, there haven’t been hordes of people coming to Australia overnight, the asylum boats haven’t restarted and there hasn’t been a single national security incident.
“What we have seen through medevac have been men who had kidney stones so serious that they would have actually died if not transferred have been saved,” he said.
“A man who would have lost a limb after being violently attacked in Manus Island had that limb saved.
“We’ve had some people very mentally unwell whose lives were saved as a consequence.” “And what has been most critical is that it’s been done with order [or in an orderly way].” He’s appealing to Senator Lambie’s compassion on the issue.
The petition was presented to a cross-party group made up of Labor, the Greens and independent MP Andrew Wilkie who said offshore detention without medical care was “murder”.
“The blood of many asylum seekers are on the hands of many politicians,” he said.
Labor immigration spokesperson Kristina Keneally said the government was portraying itself as powerless to repeal medevac decisions.
“Nothing is further from the truth,” she said.
Earlier, Liberal senator Amanda Stoker said the medevac laws were weakening Australia’s border security.
“(It’s) nothing more than an attempt to dismantle offshore processing by the activists who feel so strongly about this issue,” she said.
As of last Thursday, government figures show 169 people have been brought to Australia from offshore centres under the medevac law.
Analysis by the ASRC finds 86 per cent of these transfers were approved by Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton without reference to an independent medical panel. Mr Karapanagiotidis said the nation was now at a crossroads. He visited the Manus Island immigration centre two years ago. “What we saw was a medical catastrophe, like a living graveyard,” he said. “Why would we go back to what we had before?” Senator Lambie met with Mr Dutton and Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday to discuss amendments that could ease her concerns about dismantling the medevac regime.
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She’s indicated she wants to land a deal that amends the system, without giving the government a full repeal.
Medical groups continue to back the laws.
Originally published as Australian doctors call on parliament in open letter to save medevac laws
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