Law Institute joins fight against Dictator Dan’s pandemic power grab

Yesterday I reported how the Victorian Bar – the professional association of barristers – has urged the state government to reconsider its controversial new pandemic laws which would grant the Andrews Government “unlimited, unreviewable power” that “authorises extreme limitations of basic liberties of all Victorians and confers enormous powers on the executive”.

Sixty barristers have in turn signed an open letter in which they warn that the legislation would enable the government to effectively rule the state by decree for the foreseeable future.

Now the Law Institute of Victoria (LIV) – the peak body representing nearly 20,000 legal professionals in Victoria – has joined the fight, warning that the bill lacks sufficient parliamentary oversight and would allow the government to declare a pandemic for an unlimited period of time. The LIV has also questioned why such laws are necessary given Victoria is approaching its 90% full vaccination target:

The Bill has been introduced at a time when the Victorian population is reaching its target vaccination rates, and we would question whether passing these powers so urgently in these circumstances is proportionate to the reduced risks currently posed by the pandemic. Rushed legislation is often compromised legislation. The LIV urges pause for law makers to further consider the potential impact of the proposed legislation, as it needs to be fit for the purpose of protecting our democracy, safeguarding members of the community, and be unable to be exploited by governments of unknown persuasions in the future…

The LIV is of the firm view that the Bill in its current form does not sufficiently protect the rights of Victorians. In a number of important ways, the Bill falls short of achieving its stated objectives, namely promoting transparency and accountability in relation to decisions made and actions taken.

The Bill places a significant amount of power in the hands of the Premier and the Minister to declare a pandemic and to make pandemic orders, respectively. The LIV calls for independent oversight and scrutiny to ensure that legal ‘protections’ are justifiable, transparent and do not unduly limit human rights…

OUR CONCERNS

The position paper sets out the LIV’s specific concerns in relation to the Bill, which can be summarised as follows:

• A pandemic declaration can be in place for an indefinite period of time and very wide powers are conferred on the Premier, the Minister for Health and Authorised Officers without effective checks and scrutiny;
• Many powers appear to be an unnecessary infringement on democratic rights and freedoms, with little oversight offered by a truly independent body;
• There appears to be no quantifiable timeframe for the maximum period of detention and the Bill is unclear as to where people are to be detained;
• The process for review of detention does not provide for an independent external merits review;
• Further concerns include the use of punitive and coercive approaches such as terms of imprisonment for aggravated offences, the abrogation of the privilege against self-incrimination, and the extended powers given to ‘authorised officers’; and
• The protections relating to information gathered for public health purposes do not go far enough and the provisions relating to the use or disclosure of contact tracing information for other ‘permitted purposes’ should be carefully reconsidered.

A key problem is that Victoria lacks an effective opposition party. Despite the world’s longest lockdown, Australia’s worst COVID outcomes, and heavy-handed tactics by the police, Victorians overwhelmingly still support the Andrews Government:

A Roy Morgan Poll on State voting intention in Victoria shows the ALP lead over the L-NP on a two-party preferred basis is virtually unchanged from a year ago…

The ALP leads comfortably on a two-party preferred basis on 58% (down 0.5% points from November 2020) compared to the L-NP on 42% (up 0.5% points). The result is similar to the results at the last Victorian State Election in 2018 which was won easily by the ALP 57.3% cf. L-NP 42.7%…

The Roy Morgan survey found 60.5% of Victorian electors now approve of the way Premier Daniel Andrews is handling his job, down 10.5% points from a year ago in November 2020 while 39.5%, up 10.5% points disapprove of his handling of the job…

Victoria is the closest thing in Australia to a ‘one party state’. One party states breed authoritarian leaders like Daniel Andrews, who also happens to be in bed with the CCP (as evidenced by his ‘Belt & Road’ deal).

Victoria desperately needs a strong opposition, not the useless rabble that is the Victorian Liberals.