Supreme Court bombshell: Qld’s mandatory Covid vaccine orders ‘unlawful’
Clive Palmer says he is “happy” to throw his money behind further legal avenues, including a possible class action, following the Supreme Court decision that mandatory vaccination orders against dozens of police and health workers were unlawful.
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Clive Palmer says he is “happy” to throw his money behind further legal avenues, including a possible class action, following the Supreme Court decision that mandatory vaccination orders against dozens of police and health workers were unlawful.
In a 115-page decision handed down by Justice Glenn Martin on Tuesday morning police commissioner Katarina Carroll’s direction for mandatory Covid-19 vaccination issued in December 2021 was declared unlawful under the Human Rights Act and she was banned from taking any steps to enforce the direction.
On Tuesday afternoon Mr Palmer said he was “happy” to fund further legal avenues to secure compensation for workers he claimed the ruling proved had their human rights violated.
“We could look at the class action for the ambulance workers and the police workers who have been subjected to harassment by their colleagues at the police department on the direction of the government to try to drop this case,” he said.
“But this case was never going to be dropped because I’m behind it. I don’t, I don’t scare easily.”
Mr Palmer said there would be a class action against the government for those people.
“What’s more uncertain is the people who have died, the class action won’t do much for those people that have taken the vaccine and have perished,” he said.
“They’ve taken because of an unlawful direction according to the report by the police commissioner and the director of health, so that’s very concerning.
“It’s very easy for the government or people with a lot of money to squash litigates who haven’t got the money … I’m fortunate to have a little bit of surplus money.”
Mr Palmer said the successful case cost up to $3 million and denied he had won on a technicality.
“I think judges always will reach a decision and they’ll write the judgment according to what the decision is,” he said.
“The judge has found for us I just think we’ll enjoy getting the costs from the government, and we’ll enjoy reinvesting those costs in the battle to make sure that Australians can be free and can have the right to choose.”
Mr Palmer was speaking at a press conference in front of Brisbane’s Supreme Court.
No persons involved in the case were present.
“I can’t speak for them, I can only speak for us, it’s a great day for Queensland and as I said, defeat is the orphan for the victory has 1000 friends,” Mr Palmer said before ending the press conference.
Justice Martin also ruled that a similar order by John Wakefield, the director general of Queensland Health’s equivalent vaccination policy, who left Queensland Health in July 2022, “is of no effect” and Mr Wakefield be blocked from forcing paramedics to have the injection.
Seventy-four people opposing vaccinations took the state government to the Supreme Court to challenge vaccination directives, they were included in three separate applications before the court.
Two related to police officers or civilian staff, and the third case related to Queensland Ambulance Service workers.
The workers did not have to be vaccinated while their legal fight was underway.
Ms Carroll and Mr Wakefield are also banned from disciplining any of the paramedics and police officers.
The police staff and paramedics were represented in court by law firms Alexander Law and Sibley Lawyers, who have been contacted for comment.
A spokeswoman for the Nurses’ Professional Association of Queensland (NPAQ) said the Supreme Court ruling “ highlighted how Queensland Health has violated thousands of healthcare workers’ rights”.
The association highlighted that during a workforce crisis there were members who were stood due to the vaccine mandate who are dying to return to work.
“We have nurses and midwives sitting at home during a workforce crisis and the healthcare system’s unlawful decisions are directly to blame,” the spokeswoman said.
“NPAQ is currently liaising with our legal team to explore legal avenues for our members in light of today’s Supreme Court outcome.”
A spokesperson for Queensland Health Queensland Health told The Courier-Mail that it was “considering today’s decision”.
“The decision relates to matters raised by some Queensland Ambulance Service and Queensland Police employees and does not impact doctors, nurses and other employees of Queensland Health,” the spokesperson said.
Those who were a part of the legal challenge include Townsville cop Kevin Gehringer and former All Black rugby player turned Gold Coast Cop Connan (Con) Barrell.
“I am not satisfied that the (police) Commissioner has demonstrated that she gave proper consideration to the human rights that might have been affected by her decisions,” Justice Martin said in relation to the police staff.
“I do not accept that the Commissioner had … considered whether the decision would be compatible with human rights,” he noted in his 115-page decision.
“By failing to give proper consideration, the making of each of those decisions was unlawful.
“Despite the revocation of the QPS Directions, a finding of unlawfulness is still available.”
Dr Wakefield submitted that his direction for Queensland Ambulance Service workers to receive vaccinations and boosters was lawful because he made it under “an implied term” in the QAS employment contract allowing for lawful and reasonable directions.
But Justice Martin ruled that Dr Wakefield failed to prove that his direction was made this way.
Dr Wakefield did not give evidence and Justice Martin noted “no attempt was made to demonstrate that he was unavailable to be called”.
“I have held that Dr Wakefield has not established that the direction he made is a term of the employment of the Witthahn applicants,” he said, referring to applicant Bernard Witthahn and 12 others believed to be paramedics.
Mr Palmer has previously thrown his support behind the police officers fighting the mandate, calling Ms Carroll’s decision “un-Australian”.
The police officers and were represented in court by solicitor Sam Iskander, of Alexander Law, who has previously acted for Mr Palmer and Israel Folau in legal action in his bid to return to rugby league.
Health Minister Shannon Fentiman on Tuesday afternoon said the government was still considering the decision, but she also affirmed the judgement, handed down by Justice Martin, was a “very technical decision” around employment contracts and the way the heads of Queensland Police and Queensland Ambulance made directions to employees.
“(Justice Martin) did not find that mandatory Covid vaccinations were contrary to the Human Rights Act. In fact, he found that the limit on human rights was justified because of the pandemic,” Ms Fentiman said.
“It was a decision about how directions were issued, not the fact that mandatory Covid vaccinations were contrary to human rights.”
Ms Fentiman said the directives of QPS and QAS were “very different” to health directives meted out by Queensland Health, and anyone who had left the health service before the mandate being overturned was “absolutely welcome” to return.
“We have legislation that enables us to issue health directives … so this has got nothing to do with this case, this is about the QPS and the QAS human resources policy,” she said.
“I’ve already overturned the Covid mandate for Queensland Health staff, we did that last year in September.
“And I’ve been very clear that anyone that left Queensland Health employment because they didn’t want to take a Covid vaccine, they are absolutely welcome to reapply and we have had many of them returned to work.”
Katter’s Australian Party MP Shane Knuth in a statement said he was calling on the Premier Steven Miles to order all state government departments withdraw all Covid-19 vaccination mandates.
Mr Knuth claimed the decision sets “a clear precedent for all sectors” including the state’s police, paramedics, all of Queensland Health and Queensland Education.
Originally published as Supreme Court bombshell: Qld’s mandatory Covid vaccine orders ‘unlawful’
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