Dr Kerryn Phelps, AMA President, with Nick Papas, Radio 3AK 'Drive'

It takes the outrageous, maniacal - I'll use that word quite deliberately - disgusting behaviour of some obsessed adults within that environment to start sewing children's lips up before we get some action. I think the Government has behaved appallingly and I think that, as an issue for society, we've been left with great discredit in this country and I'm appalled, I'm disgusted and I'm horrified. That's enough adjectives.

The fact of the matter is, I'm not the only one saying all these things. We now have groups from around the country, proper groups, groups that have nothing to do with politics are out there trying to do their jobs, banding together.

One of those groups today was the College of Physicians. In fact, not just the college, the heads of the various colleges of the surgeons and the specialists around the country called for change to the detention policy.

The AMA is now also expressing views and the Federal President of the AMA joins us on the line, now. Dr Kerryn Phelps, thank you very much for joining us.

PHELPS: Good afternoon, Nick.

PAPAS: Now, I've carried on a treat. I don't want to particularly put you into a position where you don't want to be but do you disagree with anything I've just put?

PHELPS: No. And I don't think any compassionate, thinking Australian disagrees with anything you said either.

PAPAS: A lot of them are ringing the talkback stations, not us necessarily but a lot of the other stations, and saying things that really embarrass me, I must say.

PHELPS: I was talking about compassionate, thinking Australians. What we mustn't lose sight of is that these people are acting out of frustration. Some of them have been there and are likely to be there for up to two years in the desert with no family, no community support around them, in culturally inappropriate surroundings, away from their homelands and many of them have left horrific circumstances from which they've escaped and I think to understand the problem some of these people should imagine their own families in similar circumstances, in a foreign country.

PAPAS: Often enough the AMA is accused of acting politically when it comes to funding issues, hospital issues, your long running stoush now with Michael Wooldridge in the last election period. This is clearly not a political issue from the point of view of the AMA's immediate interests. Why are you buying in?

PHELPS: We have no argument that Australia should have its own immigration policy and that asylum-seekers should abide by our laws. What we are saying is that the process must be improved and there needs to be the rhetoric removed and the health and quality of life issues of these people addressed and particularly the situation for children and adolescents in these environments which is clearly not in the best interests of their long term wellbeing.

What is in this for the AMA, we have long had a history of public health advocacy. This to us is a humanitarian issue and it is something that doctors are concerned about. The AMA has been joined by the medical colleges across all specialities, as you said, expressing our concern and wanting some new answers about what the circumstances are for the people in these detention centres.

PAPAS: It's also a concern that you've got AMA members, who I presume are providing health services there, who might well be able to give us direct evidence of what's going on but there's some sort of a confidentiality arrangement in terms of their contractual position. Is that right?

PHELPS: We haven't actually seen the contracts and I'm really bound not to comment too much on that until we have some legal clarification but we would be concerned if a doctor's duty of care was in any way impeded by contractual obligations. So what we do need to see is transparency about the health and living conditions inside the detention centres. If they're fine and dandy then that's good but at the moment we don't feel that there is at least a perception of transparency and that's why today I, along with some of the presidents of the medical colleges, are offering to visit Woomera and make an independent assessment on behalf of the medical profession.

PAPAS: What we suggest, or I suggest that, or can I suggest, shall I say, that you are very effective politically as an organisation, you, yourself are very good at it, that it might be of an advantage at some stage for the AMA and yourself to perhaps start dealing with the Prime Minister and the Immigration Minister directly, Philip Ruddock. It's got to the stage where we need some sort of circuit-breaker.

PHELPS: Actually, as we speak, we're sending off a letter to the Minister asking for permission to visit Woomera and are indicating in that letter that we'd be very happy to be accompanied by the Minister on that visit. I think the more groups that can actually get together in cooperation on this issue, the better, and as much the medical profession can assess and advise on appropriate circumstances in terms of the health conditions, that's something that we'd be very happy to do.

PAPAS: I hope that invitation is taken up. Dr Kerryn Phelps, please keep up the work. As far as I'm concerned, we need as many voices from as many different parts of the community speaking. We all probably have different views as to what should happen when they come here and whether they should or shouldn't get permanent visas. I'm simply talking about locking up people willy-nilly, including children. That's my concern.

PHELPS: I share your concern and the alliance of medical groups, including the presidents of the medical colleges, agree with what you're saying and the point is, this is not a political statement that we're making. We're making a humanitarian statement and some of the things that can be done is quicker processing of applications, shorter periods of detention and really taking a very serious look at alternatives to detention for children and adolescents.

PAPAS: Dr Kerryn Phelps, Federal President of the AMA, thanks for talking to us this afternoon.

Ends