The Morrison government has gained a series of votes in the Senate to put refugee medical transfer laws to the test, with Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie backing the Coalition in early steps toward repealing the medevac regime | CroweDM rharris334
put in place in February over the objections of the government.
Senator Lambie has pushed for a shift in government policy on settling refugees in New Zealand but the government hasand restore the full discretion of federal ministers to accept or reject medical transfers to Australia.Labor Senate leader Penny Wong accused the government of striking a "deal that dare not speak its name" and she attacked the attempts to force a vote in the Senate on Wednesday without full disclosure of any agreement.
The government leader in the upper house, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, dismissed the attack by arguing Australians knew where the government stood on border protection.When Labor attempted to stall the process by moving that the bill could only be considered after the government produced the documents showing its deal with Senator Lambie, the government secured the numbers to press ahead toward a final vote.
Senator Hanson argued for the restoration of the government regime by claiming asylum seekers were "swallowing stones" to claim the need for medical help in Australia so they could apply to stay.Credit:"How many of those people have actually been sent back? None. They are using it as a back door to get into the country," she said.
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