We are better than this

Statement from Legal Director David Burke:

This is a shameful day for the Morrison Government and the MPs who voted to repeal the Medevac laws.

Today, is about the women and men who have spent more than six years languishing in remote islands in offshore detention.

These people are suffering at the hands of our Government.

The Morrison Government has stripped away the basic shred of humanity that meant that when someone was sick they could get the care they needed.  

The Medevac laws were working. 

For the first time women and men offshore had access to a fair, transparent and doctor led process to access medical care. 

Before the Medevac laws, the Government failed time and time again in their duty of care to provide proper medical treatment to children, women and men in offshore detention.

The Government risked the lives of children because it ignored medical advice. 

The Government forced people to fight in the courts at all hours of the day and night just to get medical treatment. No one should have to rely on the courts for medical care. 

Now, the Government has chosen to return to those dark days. 

Minister Dutton has decided to play politics with the lives of sick people. 

We are better than this. We know that the community believe that when someone is sick, you help them. The Government’s actions are cruel and vindictive.

There are women and men offshore now who have been assessed by two independent doctors as requiring medical treatment they cannot receive there. The Minister has approved their transfers but they have not yet been transferred. What is the Government's plan for those people? They must be immediately brought here for care. 

There are still over 500 women and men held offshore by the Morrison Government.  

Now that the Government has ripped away a medical solution it is more urgent than ever that they ensure every single person is resettled to safety.  

We won’t stop until this is done. We must close this dark chapter in Australia’s history. 

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