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Lawyers working for One Nation leader Pauline Hanson have issued a warning to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to open the borders or face legal action in the High Court.
Queensland’s border closures have been a source of contention among state leaders as the number of national COVID-19 infections dwindle. One Nation leader Ms Hanson is now claiming closures violate section 92 of the constitution, which guarantees residents of Australia can move freely between each of the states and territories.
If the Queensland government refuses to open the borders before 4pm on Thursday, 28 May, the law firm said it would commence proceedings in the High Court of Australia.
“We act for various persons who consider the border ban is invalid under Commonwealth constitution and was not authorised by the Public Health Act 2005,” the letter stated.
“If you do not give that undertaking, and if you do not otherwise satisfy us that the border ban is valid, we expect to receive instructions to commence proceedings in the High Court of Australia seeking a declaration that the border ban is invalid.”
Mahoneys said there was no legitimate purpose of the border ban and that other parts of the country have successfully managed COVID-19 without a border ban.
“Every day that the border ban remains in place, it is doing irreparable harm to families and businesses in Queensland and other parts of the nation. The border ban is inflicting this harm at a time when people of Queensland and Australia are already under grave and economic stress. Every day you delay, the greater the resultant harm is,” the letter stated.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has encouraged Queenslanders to challenge the ban, saying people are “right to test” the constitutionality of the state border’s closures. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian have urged the rest of the country with bans to “get those borders open as soon as possible”.
Premier Palaszczuk has suggested state borders are unlikely to open before September. South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory all reiterated no rush to look at opening the borders, and Tasmania said it was too early to make the decision.
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
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