Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak against the Migration Amendment (Repairing Medical Transfers) Bill 2019. I speak against it because I'm here to represent moderates who care, and they are tired of this kind of action. I fully agree with what the member for Mayo said earlier. The parliament has already dealt with this issue, and the legislation passed by the parliament in February this year is working. The medevac law was needed in response to the refusal of the government to medically evacuate even critically ill children. The law puts decisions about the medical care of people in the hands of doctors, where it belongs, not politicians.

The law is working as intended, enabling critically ill refugees access to the medical and psychiatric care they need while being done at a steady and responsible pace, with no impact on a national security. Ninety-six people have been approved since it was passed—hardly the influx the government claimed at the time. Australia has a responsibility towards the people it has placed on Nauru and Manus Island, the majority of whom have been assessed to be refugees.

We cannot wash our hands of these people and hope the problem will go away. The medevac law enables people who Australia has a duty of care for to access a suitable level of medical assessment and treatment not available to them on Nauru and Papua New Guinea. The medevac law does not allow asylum seekers brought to Australia for such treatment to stay here indefinitely. At no time has the government lost control of our borders because of the medevac law. In addition, the law gives the minister the unreviewable power to refuse applications on national security grounds and to refuse anyone convicted of a serious criminal offence. So why is the repeal of a law that is clearly working such a priority for the government? We are talking about just over 600 people remaining in Papua New Guinea and Nauru. We are spending more than $573,000 per person per year on holding people indefinitely offshore, many of whom are very sick.

It's time for sensible politics. The Australian people want us to spend taxpayer dollars more sensibly. Spending more time on a bill of a limited application out of spite and, I can only assume, wounded pride is not it. It's now quite clear that the other border protection measures that the government has implemented are working. The boats have stopped, and the medevac law has not provided the pull factor that the government claimed it would.

The real question that should be before the House is: what is the government's plan to settle the wretched 600-odd souls languishing in offshore detention for over six years? I call on the Prime Minister to show these poor people the compassion that he talked about a few days ago. Repealing this medevac law is only convincing moderates like me and the many who voted for me in my electorate that he and this government are not understanding and are incapable of separating right from wrong.

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