Australian International Travel Ban Compared to North Korea Law as Judges Uphold Ruling
On 6/1/21 at 10:00 AM EDT
The president of an Australian libertarian group compared his country s international travel ban to North Korea s law after three judges upheld the government s ruling of an emergency order restricting travel under the Biosecurity Act on Tuesday.
LibertyWorks President Andrew Cooper is considering appealing the ruling to the Australian High Court after his organization s lawyers argued in front of Federal Court in early May that Health Minister Greg Hunt did not have the authority to enforce the international travel ban.
The emergency order preventing Australians from leaving their country has been in place since March 2020 due to COVID-19.
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The government says tough border controls have played an important part in Australia’s relative success in containing the coronavirus spread. Surveys suggest that most Australians approve of their government’s drastic border controls.
The Australian newspaper published a survey last month in which 73% of respondents said the international border should remain closed until at least the middle of next year.
The Australian Broadcasting Corp. last week reported that its own survey had found 79% of respondents agreed that the international border should stay shut until the pandemic was under control globally.
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Critics of the travel restrictions argue that decisions on who can travel and why are inconsistent and lack transparency.
An Australian court upheld the country's ban on most international travel on Tuesday when it rejected a libertarian group's challenge to the government’s power to prevent most citizens from leaving the c
Australian court upholds travel ban
RIGHT TO LEAVE: The Federal Court ruled that the argument about people’s right to travel was based on the ‘erroneous premise that the right is absolute’
AP, CANBERRA
An Australian court yesterday rejected a challenge to the federal government’s draconian power to prevent most citizens from leaving the country so that they do not bring COVID-19 home.
Australia is alone among developed democracies in preventing its citizens and permanent residents from leaving the country except in “exceptional circumstances” where they can demonstrate a “compelling reason.”
Most Australians have been stranded in their island nation since March last year under a government emergency order made under the Biosecurity Act.
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