How the High Court Redefined ‘Absolutely’

The High Court decided last November that Clive Palmer’s challenge to Western Ausrtralia’s border closure had failed. The five judges who headed this challenge produced four judgments that run to a total of 105 pages. The Court accepted that the Western Australian government could close the state’s borders on grounds that it did so based on a proportionality test. At paragraph 80 of the joint judgement, Chief Justice Susan Kiefel and Justice Patrick Keane stated:

… the defendant’s submission that there is no effective alternative to a general restriction on entry must be accepted.[1]

The facts involving the case read as follows. On March 15, 2020, the Government of Western Australia declared a state of emergency on grounds of a “pandemic”. On November 6, the High Court answered questions referred to in a case concerning whether the two pieces of legislation authorising the draconian measure, the Quarantine (Closing the Border) Directions (WA) (‘Directions’) and…