Labor Senator Steve Georganas has joined in with the criticism over The Daily Telegraph’s front page story Julia’s boats baby bonus.
Mr Georganas said that he was deeply disappointed with the article that accused asylum seekers and refugees of rorting free health care and childcare.
The article, written by Gemma Jones on March 28, goes on to accuse asylum seekers of receiving “non-urgent” medical treatment while they were being processed.
“Health care is a human right,” Mr Georganas said.
“But The Daily Telegraph appears to have decided that some people in this world deserve human rights more than others.”
The article has been slammed by many in the government and aid organisations who say the article purposefully misleads the reader.
The subhead Government offers free maid to pregnant refugee wrongly implied that a woman was offered private care, when in reality she refused to take basic medical care for mental issues after the birth of her third son.
“It is unsettling to read an article suggesting that a new mum with a mental health condition struggling to take care of her baby should be denied assistance,” Mr Georganas said.
It goes on to suggest that “most of the detainees who received medical attention … have been rejected as refugees” which was unproven and was based on a small sample of cases that were held in detention for more than two years.
