Derryn Hinch (Victoria, Derryn Hinch's Justice Party) Share this | Hansard source

This has been the toughest decision I've had to make since I came into this chamber. I can announce that I will be supporting the passage of these amendments today. When we voted for it last December, I was mainly concerned with getting children off Nauru. That has eventually happened, and for that I congratulate the government. But the medical aspects of Nauru and Manus are what have swayed me. I have been fully briefed by both sides of this parliament. I had a half-hour briefing with security forces this morning. I do have some doubts about some aspects of it. I'm glad that the 24 hours was pushed back by the Labor Party amendments, and it now goes to virtually 72 hours, and if you add things on to it it can get to one week.

What really swayed me was the amendment, which I was surprised that the Greens agreed to, which was the one that it will apply only to people who are currently on Nauru or on Manus. That is a sort of reverse grandfathering; it stops there. It's not an encouragement, I believe, to people smugglers, who are despicable and should be despised, because it will only apply to people who are there. People who are transferred off Manus and brought back to Australia, according to the Department of Home Affairs—they assured me today—will remain in detention in some manner or form. So they will not come here and wander around the streets of Australia; they will come here for medical attention. I will acknowledge that the government has spent a lot more money on medical facilities on Nauru and on Manus, but there are conditions which cannot be taken care of there. The doctors who have worked there say there are some medical conditions and situations which cannot possibly be handled there, and they should be brought here.

I am still perplexed about some aspects of it. I was quite happy to be accused of flip-flopping if I had gone the other way, because what we voted for in December, according to the Solicitor-General, might not even be constitutional. That was another aspect that came up yesterday. It has been a very tortured 24 hours. There's been a lot of pressure from a lot of people on all sides of the chamber, but that's part of this job. I don't need the full five minutes; I will give over to some people to talk. Now I can proudly say that, yes, I think it's the right decision. It's a humanitarian decision. In the Justice Party world, we have always tried to look after young people, old people and sick people. Well, all those three categories still apply in these amendments, and therefore I will be supporting them.