Morrison government’s fight with state premiers ramps up amid High Court threat

While a high court battle between the government and Australia’s ‘hermit’ states is not yet on the cards, a top minister has revealed what would guarantee their win.

Attorney-General Michaelia Cash said “a lot has changed” since the High Court ruled in favour of the states to allow border closures to remain in place, hinting the federal government has legal channels to overrule premiers.

Western Australia and Queensland have grown increasingly defiant against the Prime Minister on domestic border policy as Australia edges towards its desired vaccination coverage threshold.

Both state leaders have cited the High Court decision which rejected Clive Palmer’s bid to prise borders open in 2020, with WA Premier Mark McGowan tempting the Morrison government to “bring on round two”.

The court favoured WA, with Chief Justice Susan Kiefel and Justice Pat Keane declaring the extraordinary measure to slam borders closed was a reasonable response given the potential of widespread deaths.

The Attorney-General said “a lot has changed since November”. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“There is no known vaccine, and no treatment presently available to mitigate the risks of severe medical outcomes or mortality for a person who contracts Covid-19,” the court found.

The Attorney General told NCA NewsWire the Morrison government had no plans to challenge state and territory leaders in the country’s highest court and “we will not do anything to jeopardise the staged National Plan to get us out of this pandemic”.

“But a lot has changed since November,” Ms Cash said.

“Both the AstraZeneca and Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines are registered for use in Australia and have been proven to be effective in preventing serious illness and death, as well as limiting transmission.”

Data released by the Doherty Institute, whose advice all state and territory leaders have agreed to follow, says border closures and lockdowns will no longer be needed once the population reaches 80 per cent vaccination coverage.

Scott Morrison is eager to reach this milestone and slowly repair shattered consumer confidence caused by the lingering threat of snap lockdowns, declaring “we can’t stay in the cave forever”.

But this development has been emphatically rejected by WA and Queensland.

The Palaszczuk government is willing to fight the Commonwealth in the High Court. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

Ms Palaszczuk last week hinted at a fight with her federal counterpart in the High Court, and this sentiment was reinforced by the state’s deputy premier Steven Miles on Wednesday.

“We have defended our borders against high court challenges from Clive Palmer and Scott Morrison before,” he told reporters.

“And if we have to again to keep Queensland safe, we will.”

Ms Palaszczuk also told parliament she wants more research into the impacts of Covid-19 on children and for this risk to be considered in the modelling.

“Unless there is an answer on how these young people are going to be vaccinated, you are putting this most vulnerable population at risk,” she said.

“You open up this state and you let the virus in here, every child under 12 is vulnerable.”

Mr McGowan also ridiculed legal threats over border policies, asking: “Why (is) the federal government doing this?”

“We had a High Court challenge last year and we won easily against Clive Palmer and the Liberal Party.

“If they want to bring on round two, let them.”

Additional reporting from Melissa Iaria