Sam McMahon (NT, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

During Senate estimates, Senator Chandler asked how many people had been brought into Australia as a direct result of the medevac laws and who were considered to be people about whom we held security concerns. In response, Major General Furini stated:

There have been six people approved who have been transferred to Australia and two people who have been approved still awaiting transfer to Australia, who have adverse security or character holdings in departmental databases.

Further questioning by Senator Chandler revealed the gist of Major General Furini's comments: these particular people had previous criminal convictions and/or other character traits that were of such a significant degree of concern that the safety of Australians had been raised. In a follow-up question, Senator Chandler asked if any of the people transferred to Australia had refused medical treatment. Major General Furini responded:

Five people have refused treatment of some kind including the treatment for which they were referred, and a further 43 have refused an induction check, chest X-ray or pathology on arrival as part of the screening into the country.

All these people needed to come here so desperately for urgent medical treatment and then refused to have any once they got here. I'll refer to another exchange between Senator Chandler and Major General Furini that occurred during Senate estimates. When Senator Chandler queried whether or not these people could be returned to offshore processing once it had been determined there was no valid medical reason for them to be in Australia, Major General Furini pointed out that 'under the act there is no explicit return mechanism', clearly denoting the medevac laws to be a backdoor entry that circumvents Australia's sovereign security.

We are not the only government to be concerned by this revelation. Our close ally the United States of America has noted this loophole and expressed its concern. The USA is a nation that has intimate knowledge of what happens when unsuitable people are permitted to enter into a country. These medevac laws are precisely the sort of mechanism evil people will exploit. Comments by Major General Furini confirm that people have already successfully availed themselves of the shortcomings that Labor's medevac laws have enabled.

In both theory and practice the medevac laws are a failure. They're a failure in classic Labor fashion, denoted by a lack of forthrightness and integrity. That is, unless there was an intention to specifically weaken our strong border security. Was that the intention Labor had when they leveraged Dr Phelps' assistance to enact these laws? I hope not. I remember quite vividly scenes on the television of Labor members and Dr Phelps cheering, high-fiving, hugging and patting each other on the back on the floor of the other place when these laws passed. While Labor frolicked in their moment of jubilant triumph, the gravity of what they had achieved clearly eluded them. Indeed, I found it quite alarming that these people were celebrating a weakening of our nation's security—weakening our sovereign borders and security. But I wasn't the only person to be alarmed, because I can recall Labor's polling numbers in the days immediately following. With their numbers going down faster than a sinking ship, they swiftly abandoned Dr Phelps and hid in their offices until the massive public backlash passed them by. Perhaps not surprising, on 18 May the quiet Australians reminded Labor of their betrayal of our sovereign security. Also unsurprising is Labor's adherence to their own failed policy, an ill-considered policy that nobody outside their own thought bubble wanted.

Labor's medevac laws were introduced on the basis of a lie. There was no medical emergency on Manus or Nauru. This government has in fact invested quite heavily to ensure that excellent medical services and facilities are available at both of these locations, and those facilities and services remain there today. Processes for medical transfer already exist and have proven to be effective. Specifically, section 198B of the Migration Act allows for a transitory person from a country or place outside Australia to come to this country for a temporary purpose. One such example of this is medical or psychiatric assessment or treatment. Rather than acknowledging this, Labor prefers to peddle the misconception that these medical transfer provisions inserted by the miscellaneous measures act introduced doctors into the medical transfer process. They did not. What is inferred by Labor with this malarky is a clear desire to weaken our borders. I find it despicable that they have chosen to use the misery of others to advance their selfish, feel-good agenda. Let me restate for the record: more than 1,200 people perished at sea because of Labor policy—1,200 people, possibly more. The Department of Home Affairs has consistently relied on clinical advice from doctors to form decisions on whether to bring a person to Australia for medical reasons. This is a very well-considered process and it's proven to properly cater to the medical needs of people while maintaining the national security. The fact of the matter is the medevac laws were and remain superfluous to existing laws. Repealing Labor's medevac law does not remove the ability to medically transfer a transitory person to Australia.

Another concern I have is the fact that Labor's medevac law seeks to remove the government's ultimate discretion to decide who enters Australia's borders and undermines our strong border protection policies. The narrowing of powers that permit our minister to make determination in circumstances where traditional laws may not be suitable makes for a situation where illegal immigrants can lie about their circumstances to fit a particular criteria and circumvent our border security. Once again, this prompts the question: did Labor actually intend for this and seek to weaken our borders, or is it just another example of poorly conceived Labor policy? If the answer is the former, it is despicable. If the answer is the latter, it is to be expected of Labor.

This coalition government has always been clear on its position on border protection. It is the role of the Australian government to determine who is allowed to enter Australia and the terms and conditions imposed on that entry. It should not be a person, doctor or otherwise, who may or may not be acting with the best interests of our country in mind. Even more deplorable is a person acting in the interests of a personal agenda and without consideration to concerns beyond that. Only by allowing the appropriate government minister the capacity to make final determination on a person's suitability to enter Australia can we be assured of our national security.

Labor, on the other hand, are still unable to form any sort of coherent position on border protection. It amazes me that Labor's shadow minister has indicated they are against policies like temporary protection visas. That visa ended the deaths at sea and removed all children from detention. The shadow minister doesn't even appear to understand the Labor medevac law which she voted to support. Under Labor's medevac law, the minister can only prevent a transfer if the person is deemed a security threat as per the ASIO Act or has a substantial criminal record and has been sentenced to at least 12 months in jail. This is a significantly narrower rule set than the character test which all other people who come to Australia are assessed against. Once again, this usurps control of our borders from the minister responsible and permits agenda driven others to make some sort of a judgement call. That is not representative of the border security that Australians demand of this government.

It is important to have a single, consistent, transparent medical transfer process with all necessary protections for the Commonwealth and individuals set in place. This methodical approach ensures suitable medical facilities and services are available to those in need while ensuring our sovereign security is not compromised. The consistent nature of this approach is the fundamental basis on which it succeeds, rather than a plethora of advocate doctors acting with no regard for our nation's security.

Under Labor's medevac debacle, 179 people have been transferred to Australia under what can be best described as dubious and flimsy medical advice. Doctors, or single-species physicians, rely on a clinical exam as the cornerstone for making accurate and repeatable diagnoses. Part of this includes a thorough history, which can be taken from a great distance—and telehealth has advanced a great deal in recent times and will continue to advance. Along with the history is required a thorough physical exam. This involves actually touching the patient. How can doctors in Australia provide an accurate and thorough clinical exam when they have no capacity to touch or examine the patient?

We must never return to Labor's policies, which resulted in chaos at our border, deaths at sea and children in detention. Effectively, those Labor policies outsourced the role of border protection to the people smugglers, and it was a disaster. Starting from a position of zero children in detention, Labor's failed policies saw more than 8,000 illegal maritime arrival children placed into detention. To this day, Labor try to rewrite history and pretend that the coalition created that problem. Well, we all know this to be another Labor lie, an attempt to divert attention away from the calamity that they call policy.

The fact of the matter is that, after great expense and a massive amount of work, this government has ensured that all children have been removed from detention. There are no children remaining at centres at either Manus or Nauru. Labor's horrible policy caused more than 1,200 deaths at sea. We immediately saw that statistic changed to zero because this coalition government has a policy that removes the incentive that propels people smugglers. Additionally, of the 17 onshore detention centres and two regional processing centres open to handle Labor's flood of illegal immigrants, this coalition government has been able to close them all because of our policies that work, and we've been able to resettle those people. The only reason that detention centres exist on Manus and Nauru is Labor's botched open border policy. Under Operation Sovereign Borders, this coalition government has taken back control of our borders from the people smugglers. In fact, our policies put the people smugglers out of business. Let's not be mistaken about this: Labor's bungled policy was a fertile breeding ground of the people-smuggling industry, an abhorrent and cruel industry. It was the same Labor-led mismanagement of borders that resulted in a $16 billion border protection budget blowout— (Time expired)