Dear Friends,

The Morrison government's plan to repeal asylum seeker medical transfer laws has passed the lower house yesterday.

Now, if you wish, it would be most important to write politely and gently to Sen. Lambie expressing your concerns about asylum seekers, asking her not to repeal this law that protects people's lives - she will have to cast the deciding vote.

If you're interested, I'm pasting below a template letter and Sen. Lambie's address:

to: senator.lambie@aph.gov.au

Dear Senator Lambie,

We welcome you back to the Australian Senate and submit our petition to you, to consider. Our petition to you is to not give your support to the Prime Ministers' avowed intention to repeal the Medevac Bill in this Parliament.  Please access  the petition here, and know that it continues daily to collect signatures from other concerned Australians: change.org/medevac (over 32000 supporters have signed it so far.)

As you know, The Medevac Bill was passed earlier this year, as a  step towards dealing with an urgent health crisis on Manus and Nauru that has developed there.

It is a crisis in which people who arrived already traumatized and ill are dying in quite unacceptable numbers for lack of proper facilities and care. Passing the Medevac Bill was a step in the proper direction, allowing for those who seriously needed it, to be temporarily airlifted to Australia for full and proper treatment  https://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/umt-bill-facts/. 

As Senator Stirling Griff amongst others notes, the passing of the Medevac Bill has not, as the coalition scaremongered that it would, " opened the floodgates to asylum seekers boats" at all, but does remain a way that the government can show a humanitarian side.

In the past, Australia gave really positive outcomes to refugees and was looked at as a global leader and an example setter in protection. But in the last 25 years, our policies have become more regressive,and some of them such as those currently surrounding  the physical and emotional circumstances of those in detention on Manus and Nauru are earning us international  disrepute: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jun/27/former-manus-island-detainee-tells-un-human-beings-are-being-destroyed

We sincerely request that you give your heartfelt attention to this matter and to vote "no" to any proposal to repeal this bill. On behalf of those suffering, we look forward to your support. 

Sincerely,

[please write your name & surname here]