Leaked government documents revealed the Department of Immigration and Border Protection will move up to 100 Australia-based asylum seekers onto a new visa – a final departure Bridging E Visa – that removes their income and housing support. The changes affect asylum seekers who were transferred to Australia from offshore detention for medical treatment. Human Services Minister Alan Tudge said the move was ‘consistent with the principle that anybody who arrives by boat to our shores won’t be settled in Australia’. Greens Leader Richard Di Natale said the party was seeking advice about whether the decision could be overturned when the Senate returns in a week's time, while Opposition Leader Bill Shorten labelled the move a ‘new low’.
Papua New Guinea's new government told the Australian Government it will not be able to walk away from asylum seekers currently held at Manus Island at the end of October. Newly sworn-in PNG Attorney-General Davis Steven broke the news to Australia’s High Commissioner, explaining that his government had not agreed to a 31 October closure.
Also on Manus Island, doubts emerged about who will replace International Health and Medical Services (IHMS) – the international medical company contracted to look after refugees and asylum seekers on Manus Island – when their contract ends on 31 October. Senior staff at IHMS are allegedly concerned that no handover process has commenced.
The president of the Australian Medical Association said Australia has an ethical and legal obligation to bring three pregnant refugees being refused terminations on Nauru to Australia. The comments came after The Guardian Australia revealed that more than 50 people currently held on Nauru – including the three pregnant women – are being denied overseas medical transfers despite doctors’ recommendations.