Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Today the crossbench gave notice to introduce a bill to temporarily relocate children from Nauru for medical treatment. Prime Minister, there is an urgent crisis unfolding on Nauru. Of the 77 children on Nauru, 20 are suffering a critical medical condition. A further 28 need urgent medical treatment. There is widespread self-harm and suicidal ideation. The AMA believes children on Nauru must be immediately relocated and given access to specialist physical and mental health care. Prime Minister, will you support the call of the crossbench, and some of your backbench, and temporarily relocate children from Nauru so that they can receive the medical care that every child deserves?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Mayo for her question. I'd be very pleased for the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection to provide the member, and other crossbench members who are interested, with an update on the issue of transfers that continue to take place on a case-by-case basis on the basis of medical advice provided to the department by those who are responsible for providing medical care on Nauru.

There have been quite a number of transfers that have been undertaken—recently and over a longer period of time—and so I think that the statistics which you've quoted can be readily updated as a result of such a briefing. We'd be very happy to provide an update to the figures that you have available to you because some work has been done further over the last month on these issues, as you would expect it to.

Where there are cases that require attention then members of this chamber have the opportunity to raise those with the minister for immigration, and they can be dealt with. We will continue to do that and we will continue to take advice from those medical practitioners who are resident there—who are based there and who are providing the advice about when transfers should take place. We act in accordance with that advice, we welcome the opportunity to consider each and every case on its merits and we will continue to do so.

I will tell you why: it's because we do care about the children. We took more than 6,000 children out of detention in this country. We stopped children getting on boats. We stopped those tragedies occurring. We are dealing with the dreadful legacy of a government prior to ours that failed so terribly, and we will continue to do that and we will work very closely with you and any other member who brings these cases forward in good faith. We will ensure that those issues are addressed as they should be.

But I would also urge the Labor Party, and the crossbenchers in the Senate, to reconsider their opposition to the bill—

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Opposition Business (House)) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Your behaviour on Malaysia was appalling!

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I note the interjection from the member who was previously only the second most failed immigration minister in Australia's history. He does hold the record for seeing more boats turn up in one month than any other immigration minister. The failure, the failure, the failure, the failure, the failure that I lived through as the shadow immigration minister while they just sat there and failed and the bodies piled up is an absolute disgrace. He can sit there in all of his outrage and all of his squawking, but he has to live with the fact he failed on his watch.