Page 83 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 12 February 2019
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On this matter, I would now like to talk about the medical evacuation bill that is being negotiated in federal parliament and that has been blatantly politicised by the government. The bill would give doctors more say over the medical transfer of people in offshore detention. This follows escalating concerns about the wellbeing of refugees and asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru. The Greens, on the advice of medical professionals, refugee advocates and lawyers, have become increasingly concerned about the incidence of mental illness, self-harm and suicide.
The blatant politicisation and misrepresentations by the federal government regarding this bill are simply disgraceful. We have heard the home affairs minister say that the bill would allow “most of the 1,000 individuals on Manus and Nauru” to be transferred to Australia within four weeks of the bill’s royal assent. This statement by the minister speaks volumes about the conditions of those imprisoned in these camps. If the federal government’s own minister knows that doctors will recommend transferring people on medical grounds then something needs to be done urgently about the living conditions in the camps. Better yet, these facilities should be shut down. It should be medical professionals, not the minister, who determine what health care is appropriate for people. Since when did an individual’s health in the care of the federal government become a matter of national security rather than human dignity!
I equally urge federal Labor not to succumb to the government’s scaremongering campaign. I know that my ACT colleagues will be advocating for this position, having previously called for refugees and asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru to be resettled here in the ACT as part of a national resettlement program. The health and wellbeing of refugees and asylum seekers is an issue that the Greens will continue to advocate for, and I hope other parties will join us.
I would like to conclude by reaffirming our commitment to and support for Canberra’s multicultural community, and I look forward to seeing Canberrans out in force at this weekend’s Multicultural Festival.
MS LEE (Kurrajong) (4.05): I thank Mrs Kikkert for bringing forward this matter of public importance. It is timely in the lead-up to the Multicultural Festival, and it also allows me to discuss a matter that is very close to home for me, I guess both literally and figuratively. The multicultural community in the ACT is important in so many ways. It is not just about the festival this weekend, which I am very much looking forward to attending. Nor is it just the events that I and members of this Assembly get the privilege to attend with our rich, diverse multicultural communities.
We live in a world that is becoming more and more global. Our business is not limited by borders; our education is not limited by borders; and our society is not limited by borders. Canberra is one of the most diverse cities in Australia. You only have to look at the Canberra Liberals party room to see the opportunities that our multicultural community has been afforded. There is no other Australian parliament that can claim to have elected members from Korea, from Tonga, from Italy, from England and previously, of course, from Hungary—our late big brother Steven Doszpot—in one party room. Each of us is grateful for the Australia that welcomed us or our parents, who sought a better life for the next generation.
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