Controversial detention powers scrapped from Omnibus bill
A plan to introduce controversial powers to let authorised officers lawfully detain any Victorian they felt posed a risk to the spread of COVID-19 have been scrapped by the Andrews government.
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Plans to introduce controversial powers of detention have been scrapped by the state government.
The bold proposal, part of the government’s contentious Omnibus bill, sparked community outrage amid fears the powers would give authorised officers unprecedented and excessive powers.
Officers would have been able to lawfully detain any person they believed posed a risk to the further spread of COVID-19.
Specifically, anyone believed likely to fail to comply with an emergency direction who was a close contact of a person diagnosed with COVID-19 could have been detained.
The detention could have lasted as long as the authorised officer reasonably believed the detainee was likely to fail to comply with an emergency direction.
The Omnibus bill was passed by the parliament’s lower house, but faced significant opposition in the upper house.
Key crossbenchers have been negotiating with the government for more than a week, with the government forced to significantly water down the bill.
Attorney General Jill Hennessy said on Wednesday the government had agreed to remove the proposed new detention provision from the Omnibus Bill currently before the parliament.
It would also clarify the proposed powers to appoint broader classes of Authorised Officers, to specify the powers that Victoria Police and WorkSafe officers would have.
New Authorised Officers would be given only the specific powers relevant to their role, and which they are suitably trained or qualified to use.
“We have always said we would negotiate in good faith,” she said.
“These changes address concerns raised throughout those negotiations while continuing to deliver the temporary, necessary changes we need to respond to the challenges the pandemic presents.”
It is the second time the government has been forced to drop controversial COVID-19 specific legislation.
In August crossbenchers forced the government to back down on a bid to extend the state of emergency for another year.
Prominent lawyer Michael Borsky QC — a co-author of an open letter by a number of retired judges and QCs petitioning the government, welcomed the move.
“I am pleased to see our democracy functioning as it should, with provisions that would have authorised citizens to detain fellow citizens on the basis of a belief as to likely future action not passing into law,” he said.
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