Australian authorities appeal to overseas doctors

Melbourne, July 30: Premier of Queensland state Peter Beattie has appealed overseas doctors fearing that they may turn their backs to Australia following the Mohammed Haneef episode.

Peter Beattie feared Australian Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews' handling of Haneef's case could jeopardise Queensland's recruitment campaign for foreign-trained doctors, an ABC report said on Monday.

"I appeal to all of those foreign-trained doctors who we need to provide day-to-day medical services to Queenslanders to stick with us," he said.

Health services in Australia are heavily dependent on overseas-trained doctors which comprise over a quarter of the medicos in the country. In Queensland, the figure is as high as 50 per cent.

"I think the fact that the high profile position my government has taken on this indicates that we are still committed to the principle of a fair go," Beattie said.

Premier of Queensland has severely criticised the Howard government and the Australian Federal Police over the handling of the case.

Authorities in the state had also announced an advertising campaign to discourage racial backlash against Asian doctors which followed the detention of Haneef on July 2 in connection with the failed UK terror plot.

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