Shorten’s medivac law will force Christmas Island to reopen: Pyne

Opposition Leader under pressure over medivac bill as Minister says next asylum boat to arrive will be down to ‘Shorten’s law’.

Minister for Immigration David Coleman said the bill would give a broad definition as to what would pass as a medical condition to enable an asylum seeker to be transferred to Australia. Picture News Corp

Defence Minister Christopher Pyne says it is “not the biggest deal in the world” if the government loses a vote on the House of Representatives as he ramps up pressure on Bill Shorten to drop his support for a Kerryn Phelps-inspired bill that would put asylum seeker medical transfers from offshore detention centres into the hands of doctors.

Mr Pyne said the former Labor-minority government lost 64 votes on the floor of the parliament as he played down the significance of a potential loss on the floor of the House this week.

“The Labor Party lost 64 votes on the floor of the parliament in the 43rd Parliament which was the last time there was a minority government,” Mr Pyne told the ABC.

“It really is not the biggest deal in the world that some people in the media are making it out to be.”

Mr Pyne said “Shorten’s law” would lead to a resumption of illegal boat arrivals to Australia.

“If Bill Shorten wants to turn the green light on for people smugglers, wants to roll out the welcome mat for the people smuggling trade yet again like they did last time they were in government, well that will be on his head,” Mr Shorten said.

“And if any boat arrives between now and election day, we’ll be able to say that’s here because of Shorten’s law.

“If Bill Shorten wants to pass this legislation, Shorten’s law will weaken border protection in Australia, there will be more people smuggling boats arriving. We’ll have to reopen Christmas Island. That will cost $1.4 billion to do so.”

But Opposition immigration spokesman Shayne Neumann said Labor would never let people smugglers back in business.

“These amendments are about making sure sick people in regional processing facilities can receive the medical care they need, without compromising our strong border protection arrangements,” Mr Neumann said.

“Labor has been clear that we want to make sure sick people get medical care when recommended by doctors and ensure the Minister has final discretion.

“This is a problem of Peter Dutton’s own creation. If Peter Dutton was capable of doing his job and negotiating other third country resettlement options, vulnerable people would not be languishing in indefinite detention and requiring medical transfers.”

"If any boat arrives between now and election day, we'll be able to say that's here because of Shorten's law." @cpyne on the medivac bill. #Insiders #auspol pic.twitter.com/23nGUyulpo

— Insiders ABC (@InsidersABC) February 9, 2019

Speaking earlier on Sunday, Immigration Minister David Coleman said every asylum seeker on Manus Island and Nauru would be in Australia now if Labor got had its way in December and passed the Phelps-inspired bill with the support of the independents.

Mr Coleman said the roughly 1000 asylum seekers in offshore detention would come to Australia under the bill, which would put the transfer of in offshore detention for medical reasons in the hands of doctors rather than the immigration minister.

Labor supported the bill in the Senate on the last day of parliament in 2018 and tried to bring on a vote in the House of Representatives, in a move that would have seen the reforms pass without the support of the Morrison government.

The bill could pass the lower house this week with the support of Labor and the crossbench, which would embarrass Scott Morrison’s minority government but expose the Opposition Leader to political attacks on his resolve to stop the boats.

“This is not theoretical. The Labor Party voted for this. Seeking a political win on the last day of parliament, if they had had their way in the House of Reps, this would have been the law of Australia as of December 6 and based on all of the advice we have it is highly likely that by now everyone on Manus and Nauru sustainably would be in Australia,” Mr Coleman told Sky News.

“Labor says, well that is not going to somehow undermine offshore processing. You can support offshore processing or you can support the Labor bill that 19 Labor senators already voted for but you can’t support both because they are fundamentally in conflict.”

Mr Coleman said the bill would give a broad definition as to what would pass as a medical condition to enable an asylum seeker to be transferred to Australia.

Immigration Minister @DavidColemanMP has warned against the medical transfer bill says the 'structure of the legislation' is 'designed to undermine offshore processing' to such a state that it 'no longer exists'.

MORE: https://t.co/MxXhqDnnRa #SpeersOnSunday pic.twitter.com/nxphDgP7U0

— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) February 9, 2019

After Bill Shorten last week called for “middle ground” between the Phelps-inspired bill and the government’s position, Mr Coleman said there would be no compromise.

“Labor’s law is a fundamentally bad proposal which undermines our system and it is not about compromising on a bad law. The current system is effective,” Mr Coleman said.

“This is a very important area of public policy, where we saw a catastrophic failure under the previous government.

“Where 1200 people drowned at sea, where 50,000 people arrived on boats and where 8000 children were forcibly placed in detention.

“We are not talking about ancient Rome. We are talking about something that happened about five years ago.”