Liberal Party row over South Australian emergency powers

Plan to make South Australian pandemic emergency powers permanent leaked by concerned MPs.

South Australia Attorney-General Vickie Chapman argues the proposed changes are merely logistical. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

The South Australian government would give the state’s police commissioner power to issue ­directions affecting social and family gatherings, crowd numbers and business operations under plans making pandemic emergency powers permanent, unreleased draft legislation shows.

Liberal Party MPs are baulking at the short time­frame allocated to discuss what they consider serious changes, and have leaked the entire bill to The Australian.

The bill also gives the state’s chief public health officer the power to issue detention orders and have people “apprehended or restrained if necessary” to comply with those orders.

In addition to giving police the power to make directions when an emergency is declared, the bill also says SA Police would have the enduring power to fine people $1000 and body corporates $5000 for failure to comply.

The bill — which has not been made public — was presented to the partyroom last week after it was approved by cabinet. ­Attorney-General Vickie Chap­man argues the proposed changes are merely logistical and will apply only in the event an emergency is declared by the government of the day. “Those provisions that are to be permanently enacted are considered ­essential for managing the COVID-19 pandemic and other emergencies in the future, and also to modernise some practices in SA,” she writes in her discussion notes.

“This is especially important as the state government looks to move away from responding to COVID-19 within the emergency management framework.”

Government sources say the legislation would apply only in the event that an emergency is declared so the changes brought in during the pandemic don’t have to be relegislated.

This is the issue that is upsetting some Liberals, who say the powers afforded to police ­because of the pandemic are so sweeping they should not be permanently enshrined in law.

“We have to proceed very carefully with this because, while we trust our government, what is there to stop a future government from abusing these arrangements by making emergency declarations and using the state co-ordinator to wield those powers against the people?” one Liberal MP, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said. “The other issue is that many aspects of the lockdown were contestable and came at huge cost to people’s livelihoods and family life and wellbeing. Having those powers sitting there on tap is not something we should embrace lightly.”

The government insists much of the draft bill is aimed at ­“innocuous” changes such as axing a requirement that some agencies must meet face-to-face.

One source said the two most contentious changes — the ­extension of police powers and the power of health officials to have people detained — would apply in future only in the event of a health outbreak and that ­detention would relate only to hotel quarantine. Other Liberal MPs said such a reassurance could be given only by the current government, and would not necessarily apply if a future government chose to abuse them.

Labor leader Peter Malinauskas said the government needed to provide greater transparency.

“It is particularly alarming a Liberal has decided to leak this bill to the media,” he said.

“Internal divisions within in the Liberal Party is the last thing South Australians need amid the pandemic.”