Clive Palmer to challenge WA border closures in High Court after exemption application denied
Colourful billionaire Clive Palmer will challenge Western Australia's hard border closure in the High Court next week after claims he was denied an exemption to enter the state.
Mr Palmer was scheduled to enter the state last Friday on his private jet to meet with federal Liberal Senator Mathias Cormann and potential United Australia Party candidates for the 2021 WA election but said his application was knocked back by police.
Clive Palmer.Credit:AAP
Mr Palmer said he was also travelling to meet Perth-based staff at his mining company Mineralogy to discuss the logistics and supply of the 32.9 million doses of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine he plans to donate to the Australian government's national medical stockpile to study its effectiveness against COVID-19.
"I put in for an exemption and I gave them two copies of letters from the health department confirming what we were doing, I'd advised them who I was meeting with over there and they said, 'no we don't think that qualifies'," he said.
"Then I explained about having the [Minerology] office and this sort of stuff and they said, 'well you can get an exemption from the [WA Police] commissioner but you'd have to tell us where you were going, who you were meeting and what you were discussing while you are here'.
"I said I wasn't prepared to accept that sort of police supervision while I was in WA."
Mr Palmer said the closures breached Section 92 of the Constitution which states: "trade, commerce, and intercourse among the States, whether by means of internal carriage or ocean navigation, shall be absolutely free."
The WA government has issued exemptions throughout the pandemic.
Fortescue Metals Group's multimillion-dollar private jet has received exemptions for its many trips interstate and to China and, famously, billionaire Kerry Stokes was granted an exemption from quarantining in a hotel for health reasons after arriving back in Perth from Colorado in April.
Mr Palmer, who already has a prickly relationship with the WA government, said he felt singled out with the rejection and said Premier Mark McGowan didn't want him in the state because he was going to meet with potential candidates.
"It is really clear the premier doesn't want me in WA for political reasons as well," he said.
"If I came from Beijing or Guangzhou I'd be welcomed with open arms."
Mr Palmer accused Premier Mark McGowan of "denying Western Australians jobs and prosperity" by refusing to open interstate borders.
"He risks economic shutdown with his gestapo tactics," the Queensland-based billionaire said in a statement.
Mr McGowan batted away "bullying" from NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian over interstate borders earlier this week, saying he wouldn't take advice from the state at the centre of the Ruby Princess fiasco.
WA's Chief Health Officer Andrew Robertson has said it would take at least one month to confirm community spread had been eliminated in affected jurisdictions and, until then, opening interstate borders was not recommended.
Meanwhile, Mr McGowan remains under pressure to fully reopen intrastate travel after WA's 13 regions were slashed to four vast areas on Monday.
State Liberal leader Liza Harvey labelled his stance on intrastate borders "nonsensical", given Perth residents could cram onto public transport but not visit northern regions or the Goldfields.
"Every day the Premier dithers, another West Australian small business closes its doors," Ms Harvey said.
"Our tourism industry is on its knees."
Health Minister Roger Cook said on Thursday federal biosecurity zones had complicated reopening regional borders, but the police commissioner was working with the state solicitor's office on dismantling them.
Only three active cases of coronavirus remained in WA as of Thursday
with AAP