Terry Sarten: Baby asylum-seeker pits health experts against Govt

For many in Australia, the question of who is running the asylum has been asked with ever greater urgency in recent weeks.

The case of infant asylum-seeker Asha (not the real name) has called many - including health professionals - to the barricades, advocating for her not to be returned to the confines of the Australian-run camps on Nauru.

The child had been brought to Australia for treatment of accidental burns that could not be managed under the minimal health services available on Nauru.

The environment at the camp is regarded as extremely harmful to the mental health and well-being of children. This position has been endorsed by international bodies, yet Malcolm Turnbull's Government is determined to continue to detain asylum-seekers on off-shore islands.

The latest rally against this policy has seen protesters surrounding Lady Cilento Children's Hospital in Queensland, adding their support to clinicians who said they would not discharge the infant until there was a plan for her to go into a safe environment. Nauru is considered to be unsafe for children - exposure to the trauma of indefinite detention poses many risks, including long-term mental health damage.

The standoff between health professionals and an entrenched government is a collision of cultures. On one hand, the professional ethics and assessment of medical specialists; on the other, the force of departmental powers. It was a sad moment for Australia - all the might of government (plus their sidekick Serco) versus the well-being of a little baby.

Finally, after days of political posturing including talk of forced removal from the hospital, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton announced that baby Asha would be able to stay in Australia under community detention.

In a classic piece of retreat rhetoric, Dutton said that this was "what had been proposed all along but, at some point, if people have matters finalised in Australia, they will be returned to Nauru - I also think it is an important message to send to those people with children living on Nauru at the moment, that there is a continuation of government policy".

He then undermined any semblance of political sanity by inferring that Asha's mother had deliberately injured the child with the intention of getting off Nauru. This was given a robust riposte by police, who said there was no evidence for that scenario, and a number of MPs demanded Dutton retract his comments.

None of this was helped by Prime Minister Turnbull - like Tony Abbott before him - sticking with the cast-iron secrecy that floats the "turn back the boats policy" with the added ballast of recent legislation that stands to punish anyone, including health professionals, who speak out about conditions at detention centres.

As a registered health professional, I am proud that hospital staff acted to protect the safety and rights of a small child, and that New Zealand has offered to take the asylum-seekers held in indefinite detention on Nauru and Christmas Island.

I would like to think we could do this better than the recent passing parade of Australian governments. The Tampa refugees, among others resettled in New Zealand, are evidence of that.

While it is easy to ride off into the sunset on a high horse, we should be taking in more refugees ourselves while speaking out about the way our neighbours over the water are treating those held in detention centres - especially after seeing pictures of Turnbull and John Key as "small boat people" paddling their kayaks into the future. Tel (aka Terry Sarten) is a writer, musician, social worker and satirista at large; tgs@inspire.net.nz