Attorney-General Michaelia Cash has a message for her home state of Western Australia: open your border at 80% vaccination rate or another Clive Palmer-sized legal challenge might come your way.
Cash told The Australian that once those targets were met the state may have less room to defend another legal challenge to its border closures. In November, the High Court unanimously rejected Palmer’s constitutional challenge to WA’s hard border.
Since then, as COVID outbreaks have ripped through the east coast, Premier Mark McGowan has remained adamant about possible lockdowns and continued tight border restrictions — even at those vaccination thresholds. In a long Facebook post yesterday he admitted WA might be a few months behind the rest of the country opening its borders.
McGowan’s position, immensely popular within his state, has put him in the crosshairs of the Morrison government, which wants the country to begin reopening once 70%-80% vaccination targets are reached as part of a uniform “national plan”.
Another legal challenge?
Cash’s threat is just the latest warning from Canberra that WA must get with the program. But will it work?
The last time Palmer challenged the state’s border restrictions he claimed they impinged section 92 of the constitution which provides that “trade, commerce and intercourse among the states … shall be absolutely free”.
But the High Court ruled the relevant sections of WA’s Emergency Management Act were valid on the basis that they were for the legitimate purpose of protecting public health. The importance of protecting health and life, the court said, amply justified the severity of the measures.
However, plenty has changed since November. Now there are two safe and effective vaccines. But University of Sydney constitutional law expert Anne Twomey says that although vaccines change the picture, a challenge to the laws right now wouldn’t succeed.
“If the Commonwealth thinks they can challenge the laws right now, they’re dreaming,” she said.
There could, however, be some scope for a future challenge if McGowan keeps borders shut for longer than necessary to protect public health, Twomey says.
Despite his bluster toward the eastern states, McGowan maintains he will open borders when it is safe and most residents are vaccinated. Cash says the issue of whether the restrictions are proportionate could change once 80% of the population is fully vaccinated. But if WA can still show any restrictions at that point are protecting public health — noting the state’s lower vaccination rates and evidence from experts which the court would hear — it’s unlikely anything would change.
Even then, the High Court’s separate judgments narrowed the grounds for another challenge. Palmer challenged the constitutional validity of WA’s emergency laws, but not the specific orders empowered by them.
“The High Court held that the WA legislation which allows for emergencies was constitutionally valid. As long as the legislation doesn’t change, it’s unlikely to change its mind,” Twomey said.
A future challenge would focus on the administrative rather than constitutional law question of whether the orders to close the borders made under that legislation fell within their scope. Such a challenge would generally start at a lower court. Either way, it would be a long, complicated and messy legal battle.
A political dog-whistle
Cash’s message wasn’t necessarily directed solely at McGowan or West Australians who are quite happy with their hard border and COVID-free lives. It may excite business groups who are antsy to reopen as much of the country as soon as possible, and send a message the government has their back.
When Palmer challenged WA’s laws last year, the Commonwealth initially intervened. Both Morrison and former attorney-general Christian Porter were so confident the challenges would succeed, they spent $1 million supporting them.
Although Cash denied the government would pursue court action, her statements are clearly a coded message of support to any billionaires planning another crack at the west.
Her threat may also excite voters in the locked-down eastern states, who the government’s reductive message of freedom once the country hits vaccine targets is calculated to woo.
McGowan will not realistically keep the border shut forever, and yesterday conceded it might remain only a few months behind the rest of the country in reopening. Despite the Morrison government’s anger, that position is immensely popular in the west. Talk of a legal challenge won’t go down well there.
Before anything goes to court it would be prudent to establish the definition of ‘80% of the population’. Is this for the population aged over 16? Over 12?
It would be delicious if this hardline backfired on Cash & WA delivered extra non-Coalition senators at the next election. Christian Porter may already be in electoral trouble in the House of Reps.
“Before anything goes to court it would be prudent to establish the definition of ‘80% of the population’.”
That question has been discussed at some length in recent days. The Coalition does little to dispel any false assumptions about what population is meant in these targets, but it actually refers to the population eligible for vaccination – which is much fewer than the Australian population in total. The confusion is of course helpful to the Coalition because anyone who assumes the target means the whole population imagines the Coalition is doing far more than it really is and that the level of protection will be much greater than it really is. It’s Scotty from Marketing showing off again.
Fudging figures is one of his specialties along with the “laying on of hands” uninvited and alligning himself with a pastor charged with failing to report his father’s sexual predation of young boys.
One should also keep in mind that the abused were given nothing.
So, like the electorate?
Some continue revering their abusers.
As a side note, I note that there are no Online Comments open anywhere for article on Porter. I reckon he’s damaged goods and for him to run in the next Election would be sheer stupidity
He certainly intends running. And it would certainly be satisfying to watch the people of Pearce turf him out. Siding with Clive Palmer against WA, abusing defamation laws for his own benefit, and treating sexual assault claims with sheer bloodyminded dismissiveness, Porter is on the nose – but is too arrogant to even know it
Prudent seems to be in the eye of the beholder lately. Watching Gladys the last few days it appears to be prudent to accentuate the positive and refuse to discuss the negative at all. She was all smiles today. It must be a Liberal trait because our Esteemed Leader Smirko SecretKeeper does the same thing.
How much have we been paying for all the consultancy work on the vaccine roll out.
Millions
A jouro should ask Porter if agrees with Cash, including taking legal action against WA. That’s if he does interviews these days…
Given the strength of the ALP vote in the State election, the total implosion of the Liberal Party in WA, and the anger at the “Cave-dweller” arrogance of Morrison, there are at least 6 or 7 Coalition seats in WA under serious threat, even though they don’t technically fall in the marginal category. The only officially marginal WA Lib is Ken Wyatt, arguably the most decent of the lot of them, but I would love to see both Porter and Hastie depart, which would of itself massively improve the average empathy level in the Federal Parliament.
To paraphrase Piggy Muldoon.
A really repulsive person….
You are too charitable. 😉
But operating in a richly repulsive cabinet…Micallef captures her personality brilliantly.
Oh did you see that sketch where they clipped together a whole series of clips of her just laughing more and more manically. I just about died laughing!
I keep hoping that she will choke on a ping-pong ball during one of her sideshow-alley clown impersonations.
who ca$h or scummo?
Michaelia Cash is the ugly face of the Coalition, nationally and state.
The Morrison and Berjiklian Coalition governments have exposed defenceless Australians to the Indian covid variant, nicknamed Delta.
With staggering negligence and incompetence Berjiklian has allowed her state’s citizens to be hammered by Delta without the protection of vaccinations. This protection was non existent due to her counterpart in the Federal Coalition , Morrison, neglecting his duty of care to Australians in favour of privatising the vaccine rollout to Liberal Party-disposed corporate entities and businesses.
Not only did Morrison and his Coalition fail to delegate to the much more capable states the job of vaccinating their citizens in favour of the Pharmacy guild and GP industries, but he chose to only order vaccines from a Liberal Party hack who was a lobbyist for Astra Zeneca. Morrisin refused the offer of unlimited pfizer in June 2020. He has never contacted the CEO of pfizer to beg for more vaccine, but he did at the same time contact dozens of people to lobby for Mathias Corman to get the top OECD job.
With insufficient vaccine supply, with a nation left relying on only one vaccine produced by a Liberal Party hack’s big pharma mates, Morrison condemned to death Australians, he condemned Australians to long covid, to the fear and anxiety of contracting the Indian variant Delta, which itself is a variant produced by a corrupt government with no health system or desire to protect its own citizens.
Morrison has been assisted in this crime by his female counterpart, the amoral corrupt Gladys Berjiklian. She refused to implement adequate public health measures and oversight in key risk areas such as airline crew transportation. No masks required, no QR codes required, no vaccination required, and the job outsourced to a private company that employed cheap migrant/foregin labour while providing no oversight into their PPE or health care.
And now the Coalition state and federal PR propaganda has begun; a Trump style campaign to rewrite history, the wilful deliberate portrayal of the unfolding disaster of Delta let loose on an un-vaccinated nation due to the Berjiklian NSW Coalition kneeling before business, putting money and power above the health and livelihoods of those who gave them this power.
The tragedy is that this was unnecessary.
Australia was in a world winning position to have the population vaccinated while no deadly variant was imported. But due solely to the Scott Morrison Coalition, this was never going to happen, because the profoundly craven, venal, pathological lyihg psychotic cult following Scott Morrison did what he’s always done throughout his miserable shameful life, he put money and mates ahead of all else.
Scott Morrison and Gladys Berjiklian deserve a very special place in Australian history; where treason and gross wilful malfeasance resulting in the betrayal of a nation’s citizens and lives, are recorded in the annals of history.
Scott Morrison, Gladys Berjiklian and the state and federal Coalition Party will be forever remembered for their monstrous criminality, exposed for their homicidal actions, where their names will forever be linked to other maniacal historical figures who have perpetrated crimes upon humanity to assuage their uncontrollable lust for personal power and wealth.
Michaelia Cash is every bit as mad as they.
Well that sums it up pretty remarkably Allan! Its a sorry tale indeed…
June 1940. Britain has just been humiliated by Germany at Dunkirk. What if, instead of “fighting them on the beaches…” and rearming to fight back, Churchill recognises the inevitable, and tells Britain that, given the unstoppable nature of Germany’s progress, it is time to invite in a few Germans, even though there may be some loss of freedom and deaths as a result. He becomes known as the quisling PM, and Britain is subsumed into the Reich.
It is impossible to overstate the anger here in the WA cave at the insistence that we should be prepared to accept the inevitability of a “little bit of COVID”, the we need toughen up & learn to live with it. And yet, we see the devestation being wrought in NSW and Victoria, and even across the globe despite high levels of vaccination.I’ve been told by a self–proclaimed “Liberal thinker, ecomomic progessive” that “The loss of a few 85 year olds who were circling the drain anyway might be sad”.
There is huge empathy here for our fellow countrymen and women, and sadness at our isolation from relatives and friends elsewhere; but this huge, comfortable, open cave, whose still-operating mining industry sustains a substantial part of the Federal Government’s revenue, is a far better option than the alternative. We know we are but a single case away from a similar fate, but, by God, we will maintain our fortunate and privileged situation for as long as we can.
If the Federal Government continue to denigate us cave-dwellers and insist on giving us the “freedom” to live, and die, with COVID, they risk losing at least 6 seats in WA, including Porter & Hastie,and, possibly the most decent member of the Cabinet, Ken Wyatt.
For us, Morrison is COVID’s quisling PM.
Some argue that the recent WA State election result has no bearing on Federal Politics-& normally I’d agree with them. However, an almost total wipeout of the WA Libs, so hot on the heels of the Federal Libs supporting Palmer’s attempts to sue WA, must surely have been more than a coincidence. This will end extremely badly for Moronscum, I reckon.
“What if, instead of “fighting them on the beaches…” and rearming to fight back, Churchill recognises the inevitable…”
Churchill was never going to take that view. He had dug in to oppose the 1930s German government several years before the war, whether that was popular or not in Britain – he got plenty of abuse for it. However the defeatist policy you describe was advocated by a large number of British parliamentarians through the 1930s up to1940, headed by the Tory Lord Halifax. It was remarkable that the political crisis in 1940 that led to Chamberlain’s resignation resulted in Churchill, not Halifax, becoming PM. With Halifax in charge it would have been entirely credible for Britain to settle with Germany as you describe. And of course not everyone even now thinks that would have been so terrible. It’s not as though the ensuing war was without cost.
But I agree with everything you say about the anger against the actions of Berejeklian and Morrison as they ensure a fait accompli of spreading covid across all Australia. Today Berejeklian is adding insult to injury by bleating “Every state is going to have to accept that you can’t live in a bubble forever”. Is this pathetic straw man argument the best she can do? Can anyone name any premier of any state who has ever said they are going to live in a bubble forever? FFS, even McGowan keeps saying there will be an end to the closed borders in due course.
Churchill was approached by the king himself and ordered to become Prime Minister of a Labour government.
The Conservatives never forgave him.
I don’t think that’s entirely correct, though Churchill was not particularly popular within the Tory Party, it is true. An interesting description of the several versions of what actually did happen can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Wood,_1st_Earl_of_Halifax#Churchill_as_Prime_Minister
Totally agree about Churchill & Halifax. Easy to identify Halifax as having much of Morrison’s desire for the easy way without any perspective of the long term cost! It doesn’t, of course, detract from the fact that Churchill was an appalling peace-time Prime Minister!
“Despite the Morrison government’s anger, that position is immensely popular in the west. Talk of a legal challenge won’t go down well there.”
Very true. How many federal seats does the Coalition expect to have in WA after the next election? Does it expect to make up any losses in WA with gains elsewhere by taking this stance? What is the cunning plan here?
Morrison’s Plan A is to use swagger and bluster to bully his opponents to his line of thinking. Plan B is to turn up the dial on the swagger and bluster. I’m assuming he expects to “resolve” the problem before the election, but it could certainly go to hell in a handbasket. And probably a majority of WA residents – and voters – have their pitchforks at the ready.
I would presume the L/NP will target Labor held marginal seats in NSW such as Eden-Monaro, Gilmore and Macquarie to offset loses elsewhere. Seems to be a high risk strategy though as Morrison would have to campaign as the Premier for NSW.
Morrison makes an excellent Baldrick, but who will play Blackadder?
Who else, like Blackadder, lacking all ethical, moral and the usual human constraints?
Let’s hear it for the Gestapotato!
I don’t know of any sensible person in the east who have an issue with WA’s border lockdown
Not likely to go down well in Queensland either.
Is she in a safe seat? Morrison didn’t support Clive Palmer, at least that’s what he told us yesterday……
As a Senator the whole state is her seat – with the Kormannator gone probably #1 position so almost unshiftable.
True of course, but if she wants to lose the seat this is a pretty good start. There must also be some chance that one or two candidates directly below her on the Liberal’s list might get a bit antsy about her frolics.
One may but hope.
Michaelia Cash is the ugly face of the Coalition, nationally and state.
The Morrison and Berjiklian Coalition governments have exposed defenceless Australians to the Indian covid variant, nicknamed Delta.
With staggering negligence and incompetence Berjiklian has allowed her state’s citizens to be hammered by Delta without the protection of vaccinations. This protection was non existent due to her counterpart in the Federal Coalition , Morrison, neglecting his duty of care to Australians in favour of privatising the vaccine rollout to Liberal Party-disposed corporate entities and businesses.
Not only did Morrison and his Coalition fail to delegate to the much more capable states the job of vaccinating their citizens in favour of the Pharmacy guild and GP industries, but he chose to only order vaccines from a Liberal Party hack who was a lobbyist for Astra Zeneca. Morrisin refused the offer of unlimited pfizer in June 2020. He has never contacted the CEO of pfizer to beg for more vaccine, but he did at the same time contact dozens of people to lobby for Mathias Corman to get the top OECD job.
With insufficient vaccine supply, with a nation left relying on only one vaccine produced by a Liberal Party hack’s big pharma mates, Morrison condemned to death Australians, he condemned Australians to long covid, to the fear and anxiety of contracting the Indian variant Delta, which itself is a variant produced by a corrupt government with no health system or desire to protect its own citizens.
Morrison has been assisted in this crime by his female counterpart, the amoral corrupt Gladys Berjiklian. She refused to implement adequate public health measures and oversight in key risk areas such as airline crew transportation. No masks required, no QR codes required, no vaccination required, and the job outsourced to a private company that employed cheap migrant/foregin labour while providing no oversight into their PPE or health care.
And now the Coalition state and federal PR propaganda has begun; a Trump style campaign to rewrite history, the wilful deliberate portrayal of the unfolding disaster of Delta let loose on an un-vaccinated nation due to the Berjiklian NSW Coalition kneeling before business, putting money and power above the health and livelihoods of those who gave them this power.
The tragedy is that this was unnecessary.
Australia was in a world winning position to have the population vaccinated while no deadly variant was imported. But due solely to the Scott Morrison Coalition, this was never going to happen, because the profoundly craven, venal, pathological lyihg psychotic cult following Scott Morrison did what he’s always done throughout his miserable shameful life, he put money and mates ahead of all else.
Scott Morrison and Gladys Berjiklian deserve a very special place in Australian history; where treason and gross wilful malfeasance resulting in the betrayal of a nation’s citizens and lives, are recorded in the annals of history.
Scott Morrison, Gladys Berjiklian and the state and federal Coalition Party will be forever remembered for their monstrous criminality, exposed for their homicidal actions, where their names will forever be linked to other maniacal historical figures who have perpetrated crimes upon humanity to assuage their uncontrollable lust for personal power and wealth.
Michaelia Cash is every bit as mad as they.
A bit understated.
For goodness sake! What are they doing? We will open our borders when we have higher vaccination rates, particularly in vulnerable Aboriginal communities.
Luckily the LGBTQ community are showing extremely high rates of vaccination along with women in general, so there’s only one virtue signaling vector left. Hopefully it doesn’t get exploited again by white people using it to push their own vaccine agendas.
You really are off the planet aren’t you? Is it “virtue signalling” to be aware of and concerned about the devastating consequences of covid getting into our aboriginal communities?
When the only thing you do about it is flap your gums, or waffle on about it on a site like crikey, where everyone, like me, already agrees, yes.
Now that you mention it,”…a site like crikey, where everyone, like me, already agrees, yes…” MaAD would be the ideal poster to lose.
Don’t get in a flap please, your falsies are there for all to see, every day.
Hmmm… ‘flap your gums, or waffle on” – right on, Bewarethe.
Failing a friendly bus, ignoring the puerile posts are best ignored.
The sort of kid in school who, no matter how much toadying & grovelling, was always being beaten up for trying to mingle with…anyone really.
So you’re virtue signalling is going to counter their virtue signalling. You’ve really though that through, well done.
Crikey Worm:
Remember the NSW Health bungle in early July which saw all Year 12 students at elite Catholic Sydney school St Josephs vaccinated with Pfizer, even though it was only Indigenous students who were eligible?….
a NSW Health employee emailed CHO Kerry Chant admitting he made a “personal approach” to get them all jabbed because he knew the “Joeys situation well”.
Another proud moment for you and your Coalition mates
I was wondering how it followed that a NSW Health employee held such sway over the vaccine allocations in NSW. Surely there’s more to this story? Who was this person? Why did Chant listen to them? Why did this person end up getting what they wanted, when millions of us can’t?
Indeed, but as it reads it appears the old boy emailed Chant to own up probably bribed to do so by the offender. Merely an error according to the NSW Dept of Health overseen by Brad Health Hazzard and Minister Bronnie Taylor who is responsible for regional health. A heads up to the Wilcannia mob who are terrorised by Berjiklian’s variant.
Member for Camden Peter Sidgreaves graduated from the school in 1993, followed by Member for Albury Justin Clancy who graduated in 1995, while Member for Riverstone Kevin Conolly graduated in 1975.
For the mass vaccination to happen, the school had to apply for vaccine access via NSW Health.
The boys’ parents would have had to sign permission slips before the boys were bussed away to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital to get the jab.
They’re set to get their second dose next week.
It’s an example of privilege like no other…
NSW Health has apologised for the error but still hasn’t explained exactly how it happened.
https://uat.crikey.com.au/2021/07/07/the-epitome-of-privilege-private-boys-school-prioritised-for-covid-19-jab-has-nsw-liberal-alumni/
Indeed, but as it reads it appears the old boy emailed Chant to own up, probably bribed to do so by the offender. Apart from the usual leeches, the Coalition MP’s there are some influential runners, jumpers, and god botherers and ball handlers. See wiki
Merely an error according to the NSW Dept of Health overseen by Brad Health Hazzard and Minister Bronnie Taylor who is responsible for regional health. A heads up to the Wilcannia mob who are being smashed by Berjikillian’s variant.
Present Coalition MPs: Member for Camden Peter Sidgreaves , Member for Albury Justin Clancy , Member for Riverstone Kevin Conolly. Senator Bill Heffernan
Other Coalition MPs: Craig Laundy (grog empire king)
For the mass vaccination to happen, the school had to apply for vaccine access via NSW Health.
The boys’ parents would have had to sign permission slips before the boys were bussed away to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital to get the jab.
They’re set to get their second dose next week.
It’s an example of privilege like no other…
NSW Health has apologised for the error but still hasn’t explained exactly how it happened.
https://uat.crikey.com.au/2021/07/07/the-epitome-of-privilege-private-boys-school-prioritised-for-covid-19-jab-has-nsw-liberal-alumni/
Despite the school’s fees, which can total $50,000 a year, St Joseph’s College was among a series of elite independent schools that qualified for the government’s fortnightly JobKeeper payments. …Crikey
Luckily the LGBTQ community are showing extremely high rates of vaccination along with women in general…
Unlike the other minority group the indigenous NSW residents who are facing a catastrophic situation directly due to Berjiklian and Scovid Morrisin, you know them, they’re the ones who supply you with your comments points for the day.
But here I have some other minority groups who are not doing so well, also part of the Coalition cheer squad to which you belong, but I’m taking the comments from posters here to lighten up your day as they did mine their wit in response to the anti vaxxers scoffing down horse worming poison as per the instructions of some Liberal Party politicians.
Sidthekid
I too have benefited from this wonder drug. First in a 8 furlong barrier trial at Randwick last week. Nil side effects bar the trots!
Cap’n Mainwaring
I’ve got an order in; show me a horse that’s got covid!
klewso
The neighs have it.
https://uat.crikey.com.au/2021/08/31/ivermectin-australians-facebook-telegram-treat-covid/
Beware the Coalition supporter, voter and politician, they are the enemy of the nation.
NSW is on target to reach 8928 new daily Covid cases by the 7th of October with hospitals overrun
Berejiklian refused multiple times at the media briefing on Wednesday (1/9/21) to reveal the estimated figures for the number of daily Covid cases and hospitalisations etc for October.
So, I have done it for Premier Berejiklian and as per below I estimate, based on the current growth rate, that NSW will reach 8928 daily Covid cases on the 7th of October which means the hospitals will be in crisis and other states will be called on to support the NSW health system.
https://kangaroocourtofaustralia.com/2021/09/02/nsw-is-on-target-to-reach-8928-new-daily-covid-cases-by-the-7th-of-october-with-hospitals-overrun/
Dodgy Beware and dodgy Berjiklian, two of a kind..
Teagan Taylor:
hospitalisations and case numbers are still in lockstep in New South Wales, that effective vaccinations hasn’t kicked in yet.
Someone wrote in to say that different lot of data analysts, CovidBaseAU, have pointed out that they are decoupling.
Norman Swan:
Well, the decoupling, if you don’t compare apples with apples…so I’m going with data analyst Juliette O’Brien who we use quite a lot, and who is very reliable, and what she shows is that ..
New South Wales changed the rules about what it describes as an active case.
And so they are using…I think they go back 30 days, creating a 30-day average for their cases, whereas Victoria creates a 14-day average for their cases…describe their hospitalisation rate.
And that’s really important because in fact most of your hospitalisations are going to occur within 14 days rather than 30 days.
If you do 30 days the rate is lower, it’s under 5%, whereas if you go 13-, 14-day average, thereabouts, it’s higher, and it shows much less, if any, decoupling at all.
So if you change the rules, you get a different result.
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/coronacast/victoria-gives-up-on-donut-days-forever/13522674
What Berjiklian and Morrison are doing, and make no mistake it is a Coalition tandem strategy here is deliberately exposing the rest of the nation to Indian variant Delta, the worst one in the world; with a population here that is hardly immunized thanks to the Morrison Coalition nation gutting party deals with AZ via the ex Liberal hack lobbyist
…the NSW Ministry of Health has persistently stonewalled efforts by Michael West Media’s to gain access to the health advice given by the Chief Health Officer to Premier Berejiklian.
Instead, it has preferred to rely on its relationships with corporate media to drive home its public relations message of competent government, indeed even that the people of NSW are entirely to blame for the spread of the virus.
There has been no mea culpa, no admission that its business-influenced approach to the pandemic has delivered a protracted lockdown, put its citizens at risk and sent thousands of businesses into crisis mode.
Advice given by the chief health officers of other states to their respective premiers is published publicly.
Yet the NSW Ministry of Health is refusing to make transparent any advice given to Premier Berejiklian regarding the lockdown.
https://www.michaelwest.com.au/the-business-of-covid-gladys-berejiklian-hides-the-health-advice-as-pandemic-threatens-sydney/