Jacqui Lambie wants the government to meet one key, undisclosed condition to win over her support for the medevac repeal bill, saying she will vote to keep the regime in place if her demand is not accepted.
Acknowledging the “considerable community interest” in her position on the legislation – which will determine the fate of the medevac regime – Lambie released a statement on Wednesday afternoon outlining her “final position” on the bill.
While not revealing details of her demand, which are understood to relate to national security issues, Lambie said she had determined her condition in response to government concerns about how the medevac regime was functioning.
“I support the government’s position on Operation Sovereign Borders (and) I do not believe this position is undermined by the presence of Medevac,” Lambie said.
“But the government has made clear to me that it has concerns with the way that Medevac is functioning. I recognise those concerns.
“In recognition, I have proposed to the government the only condition on which I will support the repeal of the Medevac legislation,” she said.
“If that condition is met, I will vote in favour of the repeal of Medevac. If that condition is not met, I will oppose the repeal of Medevac.”
The senator said it was a “a sensible and reasonable proposition” that she had determined after extensive consultation, and further said it was within the capacity of the government to accept it.
“I am of the firm and conclusive view that the continuing operation of the Medevac provisions cannot be disrupted without this condition being met,” Lambie said.
“I will not entertain any alternative.”
But Lambie also used the statement to reinforce her support for the government’s offshore processing system, saying the regime “protects our borders”.
“Boat turnbacks work. The promise that nobody who illegally comes by boat will ever be resettled in Australia is an important one,” Lambie said.
The demand comes after the Tasmanian senator on Tuesday challenged the government over its decision to resettle three Rwandan refugees brought to Australia who had been charged, but not convicted, of murder.
Lambie asked the government why it had agreed to accept the men, when the US “clearly didn’t want them in their community”.
Labor’s shadow attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, said Labor was unaware of the condition, but said Lambie had established a reputation for “weighing up the evidence.”
“On weighing up the evidence, Jacqui said she doesn’t believe the medevac law has interfered with the protection of our borders. She’s prepared to change her position in respect of the bill that’s before the Senate on this one condition. Let’s wait and see what that condition is. But I think everyone who has seen her statement and has listened to her can see just how thorough her assessment has been,” he told ABC.
Amnesty International Australia’s refugee advisor Graham Thom said there “should be no conditions on the lives of refugees” and urged Senator Lambie to save Medevac and “protect the lives of very vulnerable people”.
“Australians have shown they support Medevac, because they understand that doctors, rather than politicians or bureaucrats, should be making medical decisions,” Thom said.
“It is simple: Medevac gives people access to the health care that they need and can’t get in Australia’s horrific offshore detention regime.”
According to this week’s Guardian Essential poll, a majority of Australian voters back the medevac regime in its current state or believe it should be more compassionate.
Lambie’s demand comes as the Royal Australian College of Physicians appealed to Lambie to support the medevac regime because “it saves lives”.
“Jacqui Lambie talked about humanity and said making these sorts of decisions when humanity is involved is really difficult, but I don’t think it is difficult, I think if you want to show humanity when someone is sick, you let doctors decide, not politicians,” the RACP’s David Isaacs said.
