Morrison fans fears of rapists, murderers
CANBERRA: Scott Morrison has warned that child molesters, rapists and murderers could come to Australia if laws concerning evacuating sick asylum seekers from offshore detention are changed.
The Prime Minister has declared ‘‘hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds’’ of single men will be sent to Australia if Labor supports the changes next week.
Morrison said the legislative amendments would give any two doctors the final say on who came to the mainland for medical treatment.
He said the Bill would also stop the Government from rejecting medical transfers to asylum seekers with criminal histories, despite supporters of the Bill insisting these protections would remain in place.
‘‘They may be a paedophile, they may be a rapist, they may be a murderer, and this Bill will mean that we would just have to take them,’’ Morrison said in Melbourne yesterday.
Morrison warned of a possible flood into the country of single men held in detention.
‘‘Hundreds of them will have to be transferred to Australia at the directive of doctors, not the Government, and this will mean we’ll have to reopen detention centres that we closed like Christmas Island. This will cost a serious amount of money on the Australian taxpayer and it will undermine the successful border protection framework that has stopped the boats and ensured the integrity of our borders.’’
A private member’s Bill being driven by Wentworth independent Kerryn Phelps would give doctors — rather than politicians and public servants — the final say on medical evacuations of sick asylum seekers.
Labor supports the legislation, which is expected to be voted on as early as this week.
The Morrison government risks becoming the first in 90 years to lose a substantive vote in Parliament, which would be widely seen as a loss of confidence.
The Prime Minister insisted the likely defeat would not trigger an early election.
‘‘No, of course not, why would it be?’’ he said.
Earlier, Morrison vowed to ignore the vote on the ‘‘stupid Bill’’ . — AAP