Ged Kearney (Cooper, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Skills) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the Migration Amendment (Repairing Medical Transfers) Bill 2019, though I take umbrage at that title, because nothing needs to be repaired when it comes to the medevac legislation. It is working exactly as it should—getting sick refugees the health care they need. The policy of indefinite detention is making them sick, so if anything needs repairing it's that policy. If anyone needs repairing, it's the traumatised people this government is stranding on those islands for political gain. If any one thing needs repairing, it is our national psyche that has had to cope with the burden of conscience this horrible policy is inflicting on us.

In my first speech to this House, I referred to that damage on our national psyche and I said:

We must, as a priority, move the asylum seekers off Manus and Nauru to permanent resettlement and ensure that indefinite detention never happens again.

My commitment in this House is to the cause of humane refugee policy. It is to foreign policy and foreign aid that proactively supports people as they flee conflict.

I have worked every day to honour that commitment. It is why I was proud to work alongside my Labor colleagues, the indefatigable refugee sector and the crossbench on the medevac legislation.

It's inconceivable that the parliament, through legislation, had to force the Liberal government to get sick people, including children, to health care. Let me repeat that: the medevac legislation exists because this government was refusing to provide health care to refugees and asylum seekers when they needed it. They are in our care. They are our responsibility. They are suffering because of this government's policies.

Last year, we saw a collapsing and dire health situation for refugees and asylum seekers on Manus and Nauru. Anyone who heard tragic accounts from the UNHCR, Medecins Sans Frontieres or the ASRC would be left in no doubt whatsoever that the refugees and asylum seekers who are detained on Manus and Nauru are sick because of their indefinite detention. I thank the refugee sector for all the hard and wonderful work they do. It is the hopelessness and helplessness of their situation which causes the high incidences of psychological issues from depression and anxiety to the incredibly heartbreaking cases of resignation syndrome and suicide. It should never have come to this. These are people who sought our protection, not illegally but with the full recognition of international conventions of people seeking asylum. Enough is enough. The cruelty of the Minister for Home Affairs and his government is despicable.

Labor opposes the repeal of the medevac legislation. The Minister for Home Affairs has taken pains recently to trash the reputation of the medical panel involved in assessing the applications for medical evacuation. He has vigorously argued that two doctors from Nimbin can force the government to bring people from Manus or Nauru to Australia. I'm not sure why the minister is particularly offended by doctors in Nimbin, but the fact is that the panel includes some of Australia's most respected doctors, including the Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer and the Surgeon General of the Australian Border Force. These doctors were appointed by the minister himself. I feel they need a direct apology. They are doing exactly what they are charged with: assessing the applications for evacuation and the process is working. It is saving lives.

I believe the process has seen 96 evacuations, of which 88 were actually approved by either the Minister for Home Affairs or the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs. Only eight times have they overruled the minister, and none of the objections by the minister were actually on national security grounds—not one. Thirteen refugees have been denied evacuation by the medical panel. It is working. Not one refugee here for treatment has had an injunction applied to stop them going back, as the Minister for Home Affairs would have us believe—more lies.

But all of these people do desperately need resettlement—and not back to Manus Island or Nauru. The government can and must prioritise resettlement options. This government can and must act immediately to take up offers from New Zealand. They can and must support the medical evacuation of all refugees who need treatment in Australia with their families, and they can and must support refugees and people seeking asylum when they are here in our community amongst us. They can and must ensure dignity, respect and safety for everyone we are responsible for. They are basic human rights. Thank you.

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