How unprecedented State of Emergency powers 'Dictator Dan' Andrews wants to extend for a YEAR could see you wrongly searched, arrested and detained indefinitely – and good luck fighting it in court
Dan Andrews' year-long State of Emergency would grant sweeping powers for authorities to search Victorians' homes without a warrant, confine residents inside and even require people to 'destroy' their possessions - all for 'public health' reasons.
The Victorian Premier has ignited a furore by asking State Parliament to change the law which only allows State of Emergency powers to be in place for six months.
Mr Andrews fueled criticism he is acting like 'Dictator Dan' by seeking to extend the limit of the powers to 18 months - another year on the emergency declaration made in March.
The Premier said the change to the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 is an 'insurance policy' he hopes not to have to use, but one of his predecessors Jeff Kennett described the move as 'diabolical' and a 'power grab'.
'This is the act of a megalomaniac,' Mr Kennett fumed.
'Are we all going to be locked up at the whim of the Premier? Without any checks and balances?'
So what exactly do these powers - never used prior to the coronavirus crisis - allow Mr Andrews' government to do?
Victoria Police speak to a man on Melbourne's Chapel Street this week as the city reaches the final weeks of its Stage Four lockdown
Walkers and joggers take to Melbourne's The Tan (left and right) during the state's Stage Four lockdown this week
The State of Emergency law already underpins many of the state's harsh Stage Four lockdown measures - from its mask mandate to isolation rules.
The law allows the government to impinge on people's liberties by executive fiat, rather than passing legislation through Parliament each time they want to tweak the rules.
The law hands Chief Health Officer Dr Brett Sutton two sets of sweeping powers to make legally enforceable public health directions.
The first set allows him to have any person in an emergency area detained for as long as necessary, restrict their movements in that area and prevent people from entering an emergency zone. It also empowers him to 'give any other direction ... reasonably necessary to protect public health'.
The second set of powers allows Dr Sutton and health officials to do the following in order to 'investigate, eliminate or reduce a risk to public health':
The most stark demonstration of the law's use was the 'hard lockdowns' of Melbourne's public housing towers in July.
During the tower lockdowns, residents were banned from leaving their homes, with the government shipping in food packages and police manning the entrances.
COVID enforcement officers are now a familiar sight on the streets of Melbourne and may be well into the future if a state of emergency is extended
The most vivid use of the state of emergency laws was the lockdown of public housing towers in Melbourne in July
Michael Danby, a former Labor MP from Melbourne, said the prospect of a year-long state of emergency had sent a 'collective groan' across Victoria.
'I'm not willing to say he's power mad but I do think he and the government have got themselves with failures in hotel quarantine where the public is beyond frustrated,' he told Daily Mail Australia.
'There is a collective groan that went all across Victoria – you could be shut in your homes and you'd still hear it. There's a lot of angst in the public.'
Daniel Andrews issued a note on Facebook explaining the changes last night
Mr Danby said Daniel Andrews was even muzzling criticism of him from within the Victorian ALP.
'Why would people give any feedback when all of their rights have been taken away?,' he said.
Mr Andrews posted an explanation of his proposed law changes to Facebook last night, claiming they were 'a bit technical, so bear with me'.
'At the moment, the rules we rely on to keep Victoria safe – things like face coverings, requiring workplaces to have a COVIDSafe plan, and mandatory isolation for people who have tested positive to coronavirus – are only possible when a State of Emergency has been declared,' he said.
But the Premier did not go into a point-by-point explanation of why each provision of the state of emergency was still necessary - for instance, warrantless searches of homes for public health reasons.
Instead, Mr Andrews argued almost every other state can extend their state of emergency rules indefinitely and described Victoria's regime as 'conservative'.
The law as it is wasn't designed for a 'prolonged and infectious' pandemic like this, he said.
'This doesn't mean we will be in lockdown for another 12 months - or that we're forced to remain in a State of Emergency for that long either.
'It just means it is there if the health experts tell us it's needed.'
He added on Tuesday that the State of Emergency would only be extended for periods of four weeks at a time.
The Opposition has signaled it will fight the extension, with Liberal leader Michael O'Brien saying it is 'outrageous' and an 'attack on the rights of Victorians'.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton is handed a suite of sweeping powers under the law
The pandemic has seen the Army on the streets of Melbourne for the first time in living memory
VICTORIA IS ALREADY IN A 'STATE OF DISASTER' TOO
Victoria is also operating under a separate 'state of disaster' declaration which expires at 6pm on September 2.
That declaration allows includes further draconian measures, including allowing the government to take possession of property to respond to a disaster.
The state of disaster lets the government suspend parts of legislation that would 'inhibit the response or recovery to a disaster'.
Housing spokesman Tim Smith said: 'Andrews is out of control. He's attempting to make himself a dictator, giving himself more power than any modern head of government has ever had. This is genuinely scary.'
His colleague Matthew Guy added: 'Daniel Andrews is totally out of control and loving authoritarian power a bit too much.'
James Newbury MP told Daily Mail Australia he was concerned by how much power the proposed law-change would hand Mr Andrews.
'Total power should not be unaccountable. Victorians want to do the right thing but that shouldn't allow any politician to have permanent power,' he said.
Parliamentary numbers mean the decision on whether the legislation passes or not appears to rest with the 12 members of the Upper House crossbench.
The feedback from the crossbench hasn't been positive so far.
Reason Party MP Fiona Patten told 3AW: 'If there was some compromise, if there was some reworking of this, if there was an idea or some surety that there was a plan ahead, then I think you might bring the crossbenchers to the table,' Reason Party MP Fiona Patten told 3AW.
'But at the moment they are not there.'
Former federal senator Derryn Hinch also confirmed two crossbenchers from his Justice Party will not support the bill.
'We will vote against 12 months,' he told the same radio station.
'You can't give any government an open check for 12 months, that's not on and we won't support it.'
Liberal Democrats MPs David Limbrick and Tim Quilty, Transport Matters MP Rod Barton and Sustainable Australia MP Clifford Hayes have also indicated they will block the current proposal
Shooters and Fishers MP Jeff Bourman, said that the government had failed to convince him: 'People have had enough.
'(The government) need to be able to bring it back to Parliament on a regular basis so we can have a look, and if we think it's OK and it's justified we can pass it.
'As it is now, it will be completely up to the government and I don't think it's right, not for this length of time.'
CIVIL LIBERTARIANS: EMERGENCY LAW MUST BE CHANGED
By Stephen Johnson
Australian Council for Civil Liberties president Terry O'Gorman said the State of Emergency law needed to be amended to stop police from abusing their powers.
'Parliament has to amend the 2008 Act to ensure that there are very strong protections against abuse of police powers,' he told Daily Mail Australia.
Mr O'Gorman, a criminal lawyer, said people whose homes were raided needed proper legal avenues to appeal their fines.
'If there is going to be the potential, under the extended State of Emergency, for extended police powers whereby police are permitted to enter premises to see whether people are complying, then there should be court access,' he said.
Since the World Health Organisation in March declared a pandemic, Australian court hearings have been disrupted - making it harder for people to appeal their fines and penalties before a magistrate.
'The whole problem with the pandemic powers that have been exercised by all states since March is that there is no effective recourse to the courts by those who disagree with what's being done,' Mr O'Gorman said.
The existing public health law doesn't allow someone to legally challenge a State of Emergency on the grounds of economic loss and Mr O'Gorman wants that changed.
'If the emergency is to be extended for 12 months, there must be the ability of those who disagree with what's being done and/or who say that they're being significantly, adversely affected, to go to court to get some court supervision of the situation,' he said.
Someone in Victoria, issued with a fine for contravening a COVID-19 order under a State of Emergency, can technically appeal their penalty before a magistrate within 21 days.
Restrictions on movement, however, make appealing a penalty harder.
Mr O'Gorman acknowledged the worst global health crisis in a century required 'an unusual response because the pandemic is unusual'.
'But those who criticise the current state of emergency have an entitlement to their views,' he said.
'Those who criticise it say that the government is overreacting and that they're putting too much weight on the health issues and not enough weight on the effect of the economy - I personally don't agree with those people but their views are entitled to be heard therefore there's really got to be a thorough, fundamental and wide-ranging debate in the Victorian Parliament.
'States of emergency, by their very name, are emergencies and they rarely come around in this format, particularly rarely are they extended or used for periods of 12 months.'