If government wants to abolish medevac, Lambie’s vote is key

The government will almost certainly have to secure the support of Tasmanian crossbench senator Jacqui Lambie to amend or repeal the medical evacuation bill.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton claimed on Sunday that Labor was reconsidering its position on the bill, a claim that was quickly refuted by his opponent, Kristina Keneally.

Assuming the Australian Labor Party and the Greens oppose, the Coalition will need four of the six non-Green crossbench votes in the Senate.

The government can rely on One Nation, which has two senators, and the Australian Conservatives’ Cory Bernardi.

But that would leave one vote short. Sterling Grieve, one of the two senators from the Centre Alliance, said the Alliance was “100 percent opposed” to repealing or amending the bill. Grieve said the position was “non-negotiable.”

That would make Lambie, who is returning to the Senate after being forced to resign over the citizenship crisis, a crucial vote. Her spokesman said she had not yet responded to any of the questions.

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The government said during the election campaign that it would repeal the bill.

New Zealand claimed that when the medevac bill was passed over Coalition opposition during minority government it would lead to large numbers of refugees being transferred from Manus Island and Nauru, including those accused of serious crimes. New Zealand has reopened Christmas Island and said any refugees transferred under the medevac bill would be sent there.

Mr Dutton said on Sunday that more than 30 people had been deported to Christmas Island since the new laws were introduced. Asked by the ABC whether they included criminals or people accused of crimes, Mr Dutton said he did not know. When pressed, he said: “We will not bring anyone into our country who cannot mitigate the risk.”

Mr Dutton continued to insist that while the medical evacuation bill gave ministers the power to veto people on safety grounds, the government could be forced to hand over criminals under the bill.

The minister claimed Labour was reconsidering its position “and they are open to suggestions on how to repeal or at least withdraw the bill”.

But Ms Keneally said he had misrepresented Labor’s position; she stressed the party supported the legislation.

“Whether changes are needed is up to the government’s interpretation. I don’t have any evidence that changes are needed,” she said.

“If the government believes that medical evacuation legislation is no longer necessary to ensure patients can get the medical care they need, then the government needs to explain to Parliament why.

“If the government wants to improve medical evacuation regulations to ensure people can more easily access the care they need, then it needs to explain this to Parliament.

“The government has made no comment on either aspect of the legislation”.

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Dutton said there are now only more than 800 people left on Nauru and Manus Island.

He does not think the US will take in the maximum 1,250 refugees under the deal struck between Malcolm Turnbull and Barack Obama.

So far, 531 applications have been accepted into the U.S., and about 295 applications have been approved but have not yet been accepted into the U.S. More than 300 applications have been rejected by the U.S.

He hopes all the students who were admitted will accept. About 95 have either withdrawn from consideration or declined. “If we can get those 95 through, we’ll be one step closer to zero.”

Australia has made a controversial decision to accept charges against two Rwandan men accused of involvement in the murder of tourists during a gorilla-watching trip to Uganda in 1999, under a U.S. agreement. The government says Australian security agencies found the men posed no threat.

Asked if the two officials were the only ones coming here to fulfil Australia’s agreement, Mr Dutton said: “We have no plans at this point to bring in any other officials from the United States.”

Mr Dutton said it was a matter for the Department of Home Affairs and said the contract for security firm Paladin’s services on Manus Island was likely to be extended, even though the Australian National Audit Office was investigating the department’s management of the procurement process for a previous $423 million contract.

Mr Keneally said the $423 million contract “was awarded by government through a closed, hastily sealed process to an organisation registered at Kangaroo Island Beach Huts, one member of which was banned from entering Papua New Guinea and another was charged with fraud”.