The biggest mystery in the entire Covid disaster in Australia is not the ridiculously slow vaccination process but the insistence of the federal government that Australians who had travelled overseas, many since the pandemic began, have an implied constitutional right to return to Australia. The Australian government argues that the right to return trumps the right of Australian citizens to live free of the virus and to avoid death, disability, lockdown, and all of the ensuing economic consequences. There is no codified right of return under Australian law. However, the emergency powers conferred on the Health Minister under the Biosecurity Act are expressed to take precedence over “any other law”, in the name of community protection. So why would a government inflict this situation upon its citizens when the government has a fundamental responsibility to protect its citizens? Surely utilitarianism should have prevailed.
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