Palmer has lost his challenge to the closure of the Western Australian border in response to COVID-19. But it still remains unclear whether the border closure was and remains valid.
As Queensland heads to to the polls, hundreds of voters have received unsolicited text messages from Clive Palmer urging them to vote against Labor. And that’s just the tip of the electioneering iceberg.
As Labor’s Annastacia Palaszczuk and the LNP’s Deb Frecklington vie for Queenslanders’ votes, leadership, COVID and economic recovery are set to dominate debate.
With Justice Rangiah finding the border closures are safer in stopping the spread of COVID-19 than alternatives, Palmer will now take his challenge to the High Court on constitutional grounds.
By trying to circumvent the courts, the government is undermining both the rule of law and separation of powers. There is also collateral damage to the rule of law.
The blowback from closing borders will be considerable the Queensland premier, but will be a lot less politically dangerous than if she were seen to fail to do everything possible to protect Queenslanders’ health.
It would be extremely controversial for the High Court to invalidate border closures imposed by a state government if there’s a reasonable health justification for the measure.
The release of political donations data reveals the impact of wealthy individuals in the 2019 federal election campaign, as well as the importance of a sizeable war chest to claim power.
Pre-poll votes within the first 24 hours were almost double the number at the same stage in 2016. That could hurt some minor parties who traditionally spend big in the last few weeks of a campaign.
He’s spending big and may well win a spot in the Senate. But the big question is what the billionaire businessman intends to do if he returns to the Australian parliament.
Voter dissatisfaction with the major parties means minor party preferences are likely to play a critical role in many seats, making the election outcome hard to predict.
Apart from the debate about debates, Friday’s campaign argy bargy centred on the Liberals’ preference deal with Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party, due to be announced by Palmer on Monday.