Kerryn Phelps says she is “ashamed” of Australia’s refugee policies and urged like-minded voters in Wentworth to use the unique opportunity of the byelection to protest Australia’s “inhumane” offshore detention regime.

The independent candidate for Wentworth was speaking at a forum at Waverley College on Sunday afternoon, organised by the group Wentworth for Refugees, and attended by about 300 people. The forum was notable for the absence of both the Liberal candidate, Dave Sharma, and the Labor candidate, Tim Murray.

Both major parties support offshore detention and their candidates have avoided detailed questions about the increasingly dire reports about the mental health of children on Nauru.

Phelps, who is hoping to peel away a substantial share of the small l Liberal vote, highlighted her record in campaigning on the issue as the former head of the Australian Medical Association.

“I am ashamed of the policy of offshore detention,” she said. “As a doctor and a human being it offends me.

“We are a good-hearted people being led by a heartless government. It applies to both major parties.”

She also told the audience of the harrowing journeys of her in-laws escaping the Holocaust as children. Phelps argued that Australia was both breaching its international obligations towards refugees and doing itself out of the talents of those who sought asylum.

Of the four Wentworth candidates who did attend the forum – Phelps, independent Licia Heath, Greens candidate Dominic Wy Kanak and Science party’s Andrea Leong – there was furious agreement that offshore incarceration on Nauru and Manus Island needed to end immediately and that children and their families should be brought to Australia.

Our daggy dad prime minster is the architect of untold misery, and we need to remember this Andrea Leong, Science party

Heath said she did not accept that the choice is people dying at sea and permanent offshore detention, as the Coalition government argues.

“I take issue when they say if you are pro onshore detention and processing then you are in favour of people dying at sea. It’s offensive,” she said. “I will keep fighting on this issue even if I am not elected.”

Wy Kanak described Australia’s offshore detention as “crimes against humanity”. He urged a vote for the Greens, saying they had been “a consistent voice inside and outside parliament for decades”.

“Our current intake of refugees is inadequate. The Greens will increase the humanitarian intake to 50,000 a year,” he said.

Leong said she had carried a “Boundless plains to share” placard in 2003 but sadly had had to repaint it for a demonstration outside Scott Morrison’s office in 2014.

“Our daggy dad prime minster is the architect of untold misery, and we need to remember this,” she said.

One member of the audience, Philip Feinstein, representing the group Jews for Refugees, urged the candidates to commit to working towards getting children off Nauru by 20 November – World Children’s Day.

Phelps said if elected she would work to find a coalition of like-minded MPs to support an immediate end to offshore detention. She also said she supported a bill of rights as a longer-term solution to protect refugees.

“The real strength is in a coalition of people who are interested in children’s health. We are seeing now the same kind of movement from the medical profession and this is what we need to motivate the Australian community. We need to encourage the Australian people to talk to their representatives. Medical professionals can light that flame,” she said.



