A Kurdish-Iranian journalist who was in detention on Manus Island for six years says senator Jacqui Lambie's decision not to reveal the deal behind her medevac vote is another example of the "secrecy" surrounding Australia's treatment of refugees.
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Senator Lambie promised to make the nature of the deal public by the end of 2020, but failed to do so, outlining her reasoning in an opinion piece for Australian Community Media this weekend.
Her vote was critical for the federal government in repealing the medical evacuation law which allowed sick refugees to be treated by two doctors in Australia, rather than in offshore detention.
Senator Lambie claimed that "the agreement I made gets torn up if I reveal it", and promised that the deal would ultimately "make a huge difference to the lives of those people in offshore detention".
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Behrouz Boochani, who won numerous literary awards for using WhatsApp to detail his experiences on Manus Island, said senator Lambie was trying to justify government secrecy.
"Such an unacceptable article by a politician who is trying to convince secrecy," he wrote on social media.
"Senator [Jacqui Lambie], remember that those people offshore are there because you withheld your vote.
"Secrecy is the key aspect of Australia's policy towards refugees and now we see that has become a main part of the political culture in that country."
The vote occurred in December 2019, but in October last year senator Lambie threatened to reveal all by the end of the year if Prime Minister Scott Morrison did not reveal it himself.
She made the commitment during an interview on the ABC's 7.30 program.
"But if he doesn't tell you by the end of the year, I will. How's that for you, right? He's had long enough," she said at the time.
As 2020 came to an end, refugee advocates demanded senator Lambie follow-through, but to no avail.
She said she was "incredibly frustrated" at not being able to outline the deal.
"I've got to remind myself though that what I'm going through is nothing compared with what they're going through, and if they were in my shoes, they'd stay mum too," senator Lambie said.
"Every day I'm forced to keep this secret, I'm struggling. I've lost fans and friends over this, some of which I'll never get back. But I got into this job to do good, not just look good. I'm breaking my promise, because it's the right thing to do."