‘I reject that’: Premier blasts watchdog’s border rulings call

The Queensland Premier has lashed out at critical comments from the Human Rights Commissioner who has been forced to wade in on at least 60 Covid-19 border cases he says were too harsh.

The Queensland Government’s hardline stance on hotel quarantine and knocking back exemptions has drawn fire from the Queensland Human Rights Commissioner, who worries decisions have appeared to favour celebrities and those featured in the media.

In a rare public spray, Scott McDougall – who has fielded more than 100 complaints from people about hotel quarantine since the pandemic began – said decisions were too often being made that weren’t proportionate to the actual risk.

It has forced him to wade in on at least 60 cases to try and find a compromise for people, including those asking to quarantine at home because a family member has a significant disability, health or mental health issue.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. Picture: Cody Fox

“The commission has been concerned that throughout the pandemic, blanket approaches to exemption applications designed to eliminate any risk of the spread of Covid have not properly considered the rights of those affected by restrictions and may not have been proportionate to the risk,” Mr McDougall told The Courier-Mail.

“The commission is concerned that to maintain public confidence in pandemic decision making, successful exemptions are not seen to be granted on the basis of an applicant’s celebrity status or otherwise because of the media attention they have been able to attract, but rather on the extenuating circumstances of the applicant and consistent assessments of risk.”

Queensland Human Rights Commissioner Scott McDougall

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday morning, Ms Palaszczuk said she rejected the assertions made by the Commissioner that the exemptions unit processes were unfair and favoured celebrities.

“Well I reject that, I completely reject that,” she said.

Mr McDougall’s comments came after a string of people have taken their fight for compassionate decision-making to the media, several of which has seen Queensland Health immediately grant exemptions.

It also follows public anger over the allowing of NRL WAGS and players into the state at the same time the border was closed to everyone, including returning Queenslanders, because of pressure on hotel quarantine.

Asked whether he believed any changes should been made to Queensland Health’s decision making, Mr McDougall said a human-rights analysis of cases should address the reasonableness and necessity of them, balanced with the proportionality of restrictions.

Doing that should help decision makers arrive at compassionate decisions that satisfactorily balanced the rights of individuals against the need to protect public safety, he said.

Mr McDougall said the commission continued to receive one or two complaints a week, mostly about lack of access to fresh air from hotel quarantine, or around

Questioned on the work of the exemptions unit again, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk insisted it only existed because of the “massive outbreak in NSW” and “to keep Queenslanders safe”.

The unit has now been placed under the oversight of new Deputy Chief Health Officer Dr Lynne McKinlay, who did the first audit of the unit since it was created in August last year.

On Sunday, Ms Palaszczuk admitted the unit was “swamped”.

Asked whether people were falling through the cracks, she replied: “I think that’s happening around the world.”

Three-year-old Memphis Francis is reunited with his family at Archerfield airport, after arriving from Griffith in NSW on a special flight. Memphis was stranded in NSW for a number of weeks due to border closures. Picture: Dan Peled/NCA NewsWire