 Doctors and the Greens are warning Labor not to back away from efforts to change the way asylum seekers are brought to Australia for medical treatment. But Labor is considering making more changes to a proposed bill on asylum seekers medical transfers to ensure the minister has final say. Dozens of doctors descended on Parliament House in Canberra as Labor caucus members met to finalise their position before a vote on the reforms. Paul Bauert from the Australian Medical Association is concerned the issue is being drowned out by politics. "People's lives are at stake - the politicking must stop," he told reporters on Monday. Labor is under pressure to drop its support for cha nges to medical evacuations, which would make treating doctors rather than politicians the final arbiters. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said the "unnecessary and counterproductive" changes would undermine offshore processing and restart the people smuggling trade. "There's no sense in being big-hearted - in getting people out of detention, including children on Nauru - only to find that a boat turns up the next day to refill the places with new arrivals," he told Sky News. Labor frontbencher Terri Butler said ultimately the buck has to stop with democratically elected representatives. But Greens senator Nick McKim says any changes have to help refugees. "We're not going to vote for something that would either make no difference, or make life worse for refugees," he said. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten received a security briefing on the proposed changes on Monday morning before meetings with the shadow cabinet and Labor caucus. Security agencies have warned the changes could see up to 1000 asylum seekers brought to Australia within weeks. Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese says Labor is willing to "tweak" the laws to ensure the minister's power is clear. "So if we need to tweak the legislation then, by all means, we should be able to do that in order to get an outcome," he told ABC radio. Dr Bauert insisted the bill already contained appropriate safeguards. "I think any tweaking is going to put us into a situation where we are worse off," he said. More than 4500 doctors have signed the petition in favour of medivac changes. Advocates say 60 asylum seekers are being held offshore are in critical conditions. Under the proposed changes, the final decision on medical transfers of asylum seekers in offshore detention would shift from politicians and public servants to two treating doctors. A minister would be required to review cases within 24 hours and, if they reject an evacuation, an independent health panel would scrutinise the decision. Australian Associated Press Doctors and the Greens are warning Labor not to back away from efforts to change the way asylum seekers are brought to Australia for medical treatment. But Labor is considering making more changes to a proposed bill on asylum seekers medical transfers to ensure the minister has final say. Dozens of doctors descended on Parliament House in Canberra as Labor caucus members met to finalise their position before a vote on the reforms. Paul Bauert from the Australian Medical Association is concerned the issue is being drowned out by politics. "People's lives are at stake - the politicking must stop," he told reporters on Monday. Labor is under pressure to drop its support for changes to medical evacuations, which would make treating doctors rather than politicians the final arbiters. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said the "unnecessary and counterproductive" changes would undermine offshore processing and restart the people smuggling trade. "There's no sense in being big-hearted - in getting people out of detention, including children on Nauru - only to find that a boat turns up the next day to refill the places with new arrivals," he told Sky News. Labor frontbencher Terri Butler said ultimately the buck has to stop with democratically elected representatives. But Greens senator Nick McKim says any changes have to help refugees. "We're not going to vote for something that would either make no difference, or make life worse for refugees," he said. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten received a security briefing on the proposed changes on Monday morning before meetings with the shadow cabinet and Labor caucus. Security agencies have warned the changes could see up to 1000 asylum seekers brought to Australia within weeks. Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese says Labor is willing to "tweak" the laws to ensure the minister's power is clear. "So if we need to tweak the legislation then, by all means, we should be able to do that in order to get an outcome," he told ABC radio. Dr Bauert insisted the bill already contained appropriate safeguards. "I think any tweaking is going to put us into a situation where we are worse off," he said. More than 4500 doctors have signed the petition in favour of medivac changes. Advocates say 60 asylum seekers are being held offshore are in critical conditions. Under the proposed changes, the final decision on medical transfers of asylum seekers in offshore detention would shift from politicians and public servants to two treating doctors. A minister would be required to review cases within 24 hours and, if they reject an evacuation, an independent health panel would scrutinise the decision. Australian Associated Press Let's block ads! (Why?)
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