Liberal MPs push Scott Morrison to evacuate detainees from Nauru

Liberal MPs are pushing Scott Morrison to evacuate detained children and their parents from Nauru for humanitarian reasons.

Liberal Member for Chisholm Julia Banks. Picture: AAP

Liberal MPs are pushing Scott Morrison to evacuate detained children and their parents from Nauru for humanitarian reasons, arguing the situation on the island has “crossed the threshold”.

According to a report in the Herald Sun, Russell Broadbent, Craig Laundy and Julia Banks believe a “tipping point” has been reached at the detention centre, and have urged their leader to stage an intervention to remove more than 80 children and their families.

Mr Broadbent and Mr Laundy met the Prime Minister in September to make the request to bring all of the children and their families on the island to Australia, prioritising those requiring urgent medical attention.

Ms Banks, the Liberal member for the Victorian seat of Chisholm, said: “I really believe it comes from the hearts and minds of the Australian people”.

Refugee men walk near the entry gate of the detention camp on Nauru. Picture: Nathan Edwards

“It is the only decision that can be made based on humanitarian grounds,” she said.

Former minister for Small and Family Business, Mr Laundy said: “I’ve had doctors sit in my office and run me through specifics which I’m extremely uneasy with.”

Liberal member for the seat of McMillan in Victoria, Mr Broadbent said “we have come to the tipping point”.

“The Australian people that I speak to have spoken, from grandmothers to mums in the street. It doesn’t matter where I turn, I am confronted with children on Nauru,” he said.

The three federal MPs argue an opportunity for the government to evacuate the children on Nauru is ripe given a public outcry, including support from church and medical groups, and that their main objective is on the welfare of the children.

The politicians are proposing for the asylum seekers to be brought to Australia temporarily, to be resettled in a separate nation.

The majority of those detained on Nauru are from Sri Lanka, Iran and Afghanistan, and they would either be moved to detention in Australia, or on community bridging visas.

“This is an embarrassing ­humanitarian crisis that the government needs to resolve in a manner acceptable to the Australian people,” Mr Broadbent said.

One cabinet minister told the Herald Sun that “It’s crossed the threshold, and something must be done as soon as possible”.

Another said that “it is not straightforward but the tide has turned. These kids have been there far too long”.