Doctors to decide if asylum seekers are treated in Australia as 'medivac' bill becomes law

Asylum seekers arriving by boat

Asylum seekers arriving by boat Source: AAP

Doctors will now have more power to decide whether asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru should come to Australia for medical treatment after the passage of a medical evacuation bill through the Senate. The Federal Government says the bill weakens Australia's border protection laws and could see more people try to come to Australia by boat. But Labor, the Greens and key independents dispute that. It was a key amendment to the legislation that was enough to convince independent senator Derryn Hinch to support the medical evacuation bill after he took briefings from Australia's security agencies. We discussed the new amendments with Dr. Nazir Dawaar, who is Sydney based solicitor. Please listen to the full interview in Pashto.



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