Dr Gillespie said it "sends the message the government is not in control and would encourage more people to come to Australia illegally".

I question whether Dr Gillespie actually read and understands the legislation. Also, it appears he doesn't understand Australia's international obligations to asylum seekers and refugees as a signatory to the UNHCR Refugee Convention.

Here's a few facts for Dr Gillespie.

1. The medevac legislation only applies to refugees and asylum seekers already in Manus and Nauru, so it cannot be a "pull factor" to entice more asylum seekers to come.

2. It is NOT ILLEGAL to seek asylum by boat. Please don't call these people illegals, because they are not.

3. Dr Gillespie said the system wasn't broken before the medevac laws came into play. This is incorrect. Last year the Queensland Coroner handed down a finding that previous arrangements to medically evacuate refugees to Australia (prior to the Medevac legislation) were "not adequate". The Coroner found that miscommunication, bureacratic bungling by Australian Border Force and the lack of proper procedures to medically evacuate sick refugees had contributed to the death of at least two refugees from Manus and Nauru whose deaths have been investigated. The Coroner made various recommendations including that clinics which provide medical services to asylum seekers be accredited to Australian standards. This has not happened. The Coroner further recommended that the Commonwealth Attorney-General establish and fund a statutory framework for independent judicial investigation of deaths of offshore asylum seekers. This has also not happened.

Doctor Gillespie has sworn a Hippocratic oath to "do no harm" but sadly I must question whether his support to repeal the Medevac legislation breaks his professional oath.

Politicians, including four doctors, have voted to repeal medevac in order to prevent sick people from accessing urgent life-saving medical treatment, without transparency and accountability. This is not the Australia I want.

Bernadette Richards

Convenor, Refugee Action Collective Eurobodalla