Letter to Cathy McGowan MP - please support Dr Phelps's bill

From: Mike Griffin <mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2019 10:31 AM
To: 'cathy.mcgowan.mp@aph.gov.au' <cathy.mcgowan.mp@aph.gov.au>
Subject: Asylum seekers

Dear Cathy McGowan,

As a long-standing RAR member, I want to acknowledge the major contribution that you have made in parliament in fighting for a humane and compassionate policy on refugees and asylum seekers. You have at all times taken a principled stand for the rights of asylum seekers and you have never failed to hold the government to account. 

I am concerned, though, that you have announced that you have not yet decided whether or not you will support Dr Phelps’ Bill to put the needs of patients front and centre, rather than the deliberations of bureaucrats and politicians, when doctors request the transfer of people from Manus or Nauru for urgent medical treatment.  

Surely, the worst that can happen to the government is that it suffers some embarrassment on the floor of the House if the Bill is voted into law? Yet, for refugees, it could be a matter of life or death.

I urge you therefore to please support Dr Phelps’ Bill when it returns to Parliament in February. Your vote will be crucial in deciding whether parliament votes for the rights of refugees and asylum seekers or for a continuation of the current inhumane policy, which is all about politics rather than principle.

Regards

Mike Griffin