Thread: Corona Virus

Originally Posted by 4bee

NSW pressure to reopen state borders triggers accusations of bullying from WA and Queensland premiers | Australia news | The Guardian

As I thought - no particular reason. I will leave it there but maybe we do need Ron afterall.

Originally Posted by V8Ian

Federal law overrides state law.

Only where they are in conflict and where each has the power to legislate - Health is a State responsibility so State Law applies - if the Federal authorities withdrew funding the States would just fund it - easier said than done. Most of the powers that the Federal Government has obtained after Federation and the Constitution have been powers that the States have traded away for their own (often selfish) reasons.

Originally Posted by Arapiles

The general rule is that where there's a conflict the Commonwealth/Constitution prevails.

Whilst there's no doubt Qld has power in relation to health, the question is can that power be used to over-ride section 92 of the Constitution. I'd suggest only to a limited extent.

I believe section 92 covers the free trade between states, in particular taxes and tariffs.

Yes, and also movement of people.
But state law governs health services and these border restrictions are under the Qld Public Health Act 2005. What federal legislation covers closures of state borders for health reasons? I can't think of any.

In the Ruby Princess case Border Force argued vehemently it had no power under health to stop the ship crossing the NSW border and docking in NSW. If the federal government had no health-related state boundary power in that case, how could it claim to have any state boundary power in this case?
If there was a legal challenge, every state would combine to fight a federal takeover of state powers.

Why cant people simply accept that some States are not comfortable at the moment letting people from other States that are still getting new cases of the virus showing up across their borders.
Those people that are flapping their gums about the border closures being "Unconstitutional" need to think about the reason why the borders were closed in the first place, They were closed to save lives.
So which is more important arguing about the constitution and trying to force some States too open their borders to all and sundry or saving lives

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

Yes, and also movement of people.
But state law governs health services and these border restrictions are under the Qld Public Health Act 2005. What federal legislation covers closures of state borders for health reasons? I can't think of any.

Apparently the original health power the Cth had was specifically in relation to quarantine.

Issue in this case is using a State power to over-ride a Constitutional right.

I flagged this as an issue several weeks ago (and evidently I wasn't the only one wondering about it) and I'm of the view that if there was a Constitutional challenge it would turn on whether the current hard border arrangements go too far in terms of what's a reasonable response to the pandemic.

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

If there was a legal challenge, every state would combine to fight a federal takeover of state powers.

The States have been ceding power to the Commonwealth from pretty much the beginning - as an example, when was the last time you paid income tax to your State government?

Originally Posted by Arapiles

Apparently the original health power the Cth had was specifically in relation to quarantine.

Issue in this case is using a State power to over-ride a Constitutional right.

I flagged this as an issue several weeks ago (and evidently I wasn't the only one wondering about it) and I'm of the view that if there was a Constitutional challenge it would turn on whether the current hard border arrangements go too far in terms of what's a reasonable response to the pandemic.

The quarantine powers of the Commonwealth apply to international boundaries - not to state boundaries. And it should be pointed out that several states, including Queensland, have quarantine boundaries within the state, and all states have restrictions on travel.

The various restrictions seem to be legal under the various state public health acts and the Commonwealth Biosecurity Act 2015 and the current state of emergency declared under this act on 18th March.

As pointed out by several posters, the border restrictions are on movement of people, not trade, and the legality of these sorts of restrictions has been explored multiple times in epidemics since 1788.