Anthony Albanese refuses to contemplate unwinding Medivac bill

Anthony Albanese won’t contemplate unwinding the Medivac bill, saying the “world hadn’t ended” as the Coalition predicted.

Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese on Today this morning. Picture: Twitter

Anthony Albanese has refused to contemplate legislative changes to unwind the Medivac bill, saying the “world hadn’t ended” under the bill as the Coalition had predicted.

A Federal Court ruling on Wednesday reignited the political debate over border security, after it found doctors didn’t need to see a patient face-to-face to recommend a medical transfer.

Mr Albanese’s comments come a day after Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton told Sky News he feared the decision would “open the floodgates” to asylum seekers and create a “pull factor” for other asylum-seekers and the people-smuggling trade.

But speaking on Nine’s Today show this morning, Mr Albanese slammed Mr Dutton’s concerns as “nonsense.”

“You can have strong borders without being weak on humanity,” he said.

“This legislation, Peter Dutton said, the world would end, there would be hundreds and hundreds ... of people coming here in a number of weeks. it didn’t happen,” Mr Albanese said.

“One thousand people have come here on Mr Dutton’s watch for medical assistance. Do you know how many under this legislation? Twenty-two of those 1000. It hasn’t led to a crisis. It’s working as it should.”

There are 512 people still on Manus Island, including 393 refugees and 119 non-refugees, and 332 on Nauru, including 242 refugees and 80 non-refugees.

Joining Mr Albanese on the Today segment, Mr Dutton remained adamant the laws threatened Australia’s border security. He called on Labor to support the government’s move to repeal the laws when parliament resumes next month.

“It is inconceivable that you can take away from the Liberal government, from the Labor government, the ability to determine who comes to our country,” Mr Dutton said. “People of bad character are able to come under Labor’s law and Mr Albanese should reject it.”

“It is inconceivable that you can take away from the Liberal government, from the Labor government the ability to determine who comes to our country.” @PeterDutton_MP #9Today pic.twitter.com/lZsM9jFGMS

— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) June 20, 2019

Under the regime, two doctors can recommend asylum seekers currently on Manus Island or Nauru be transferred to Australia territory for treatment.

The home affairs minister then has 72 hours to decide whether or not to agree to a medical transfer.

The legislation came into force in March with the support of Labor and the crossbench.