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Home Affairs minister Peter Dutton
Home Affairs minister Peter Dutton tells Jacquie Lambie ‘veterans would want us to abolish’ medevac laws. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Home Affairs minister Peter Dutton tells Jacquie Lambie ‘veterans would want us to abolish’ medevac laws. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Peter Dutton tells Lambie that war veterans want medevac laws scrapped

This article is more than 4 years old

Dutton pressures the senator and former soldier whose vote he needs to repeal bill but cites no source for claim

Peter Dutton has upped the pressure on Jacqui Lambie to pass the Coalition’s repeal of provisions facilitating medical transfers from offshore detention, claiming veterans would support the move.

The independent senator, a former soldier in the Australian defence force and a fierce advocate for veterans, has the casting vote on the controversial legislation which is opposed by medical practitioners and human rights groups.

On Thursday the home affairs minister said he had put a “compelling case” to Lambie on the bill but noted she wanted to wait for a Senate inquiry report due on Friday before deciding her vote.

“She’s made her cause that of veterans … I think in a way she looks through the lens of what would a veteran think or what would a veteran want me to do in relation to these matters,” Dutton told 2GB Radio.

“I believe very strongly that most Australians and certainly the vast majority of veterans would want us to abolish this law.”

Dutton did not cite a source for the claim.

The medevac provisions – passed in the last parliament by Labor, the Greens and independents – gives clinicians a greater say in the medical transfers of asylum seekers by creating a specialist medical panel to approve transfers under advice from doctors rather than government officials.

On Sunday Lambie said she would not be trading her vote or doing “deals” over the Coalition bill to repeal the provisions. But on Monday she said the situation in Syria could sway her vote on the medevac laws, raising concerns the conflict could trigger an influx of asylum seekers.

Dutton claimed that the parliament “had been conned” into supporting medevac. Of the 132 people who have transferred to Australia “there are about 30 people that have received their medical attention, their issue has been dealt with and they can’t be sent back,” he said.

“If you’re a people smuggler, why wouldn’t you be marketing this?

“I just can’t believe Labor hasn’t learnt the lesson … They’ve completely lost the plot.”

According the Guardian’s Essential poll a majority of Australians either approve of the medevac procedures, or think more needs to be done to protect the health and welfare of asylum seekers offshore

Dutton claimed that – although he has blocked the transfer of one refugee on security grounds – there were six other cases where he did not have grounds to block refugees he said had been accused of committing criminal offences.

The medevac inquiry is being conducted by the Senate legal and constitutional affairs legislation committee, which is chaired by Liberal senator Amanda Stoker. Of a total of 84 individuals and groups who made submissions to the inquiry only the home affairs department supported the government bill to repeal medevac provisions.

The inquiry has heard from doctors responsible for health assessments that of 581 people in detention they have audited 97% have significant physical health issues and 91% have serious mental health issues.

The Australian Human Rights Commission has submitted that of the 536 people brought to Australia in 2018-19 approximately 60% were transferred due to actual or prospective litigation, arguing the previous regime was not sufficient to ensure proper care.

Dr Nick Martin, the former senior medical officer for International Health and Medical Services on Nauru, has spoken out against what he described as Australia’s “inflexible, unswerving, and shameless” offshore immigration regime, that deliberately harmed asylum seekers and ignored doctors’ recommendations to treat dangerously ill people.

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