Federal Attorney General Christian Porter ‘supports’ Clive Palmer’s bid to reopen WA’s closed borders, High Court document reveals

Christian Porter is the only attorney-general in Australia to intervene “in support” of Queensland billionaire Clive Palmer’s court action to demolish WA’s hard border, new documents reveal. In June, The West Australian obtained from the High Court the notice of intervention filed by Australia’s deputy chief solicitor Andrew Buckland on Mr Porter’s instructions. The June 12 document states Mr Porter, the Federal Attorney-General, “intervenes in support of the position of the plaintiffs” — Mr Palmer and his Mineralogy company. Yesterday, WA Attorney-General John Quigley released intervention notices submitted by the attorneys-general of South Australia, Queensland, Tasmania and the Northern Territory — who all supported WA’s defence of its border closure. Victoria, the epicentre of Australia’s deadly COVID-19 outbreak, also intervened but did not advocate a position, while NSW — which has always resisted border closures — has taken no part in the proceedings. A spokeswoman for the Victorian Government confirmed it had intervened in the case because it had legal significance for the ability of all States to respond effectively to emergencies such as coronavirus. Mr Quigley released the suite of documents after he was “disturbed” by Mr Porter’s comments in yesterday’s The West that the Commonwealth “does not take a side”. “The first law officer of the Commonwealth was both disingenuous and misleading to the WA public when he said they had not intervened in support of Mr Palmer — when they clearly had,” Mr Quigley said. “Normally an intervener tends to assist the court with interpretation, but on this case they called witnesses and urged the court to find in favour of Mr Palmer’s action. “This notice advises the High Court of Australia that the Attorney-General intervenes in support of the position of the plaintiff, yet Mr Porter tells the public that ‘he’s not taking sides’. That’s what I find disturbing.” Amid a mounting public backlash against Mr Palmer and the Morrison Government, WA Liberal leader Liza Harvey and WA Nationals leader Mia Davies yesterday spoke out against a push by Federal colleagues who want WA reopened to low-risk States. “We can’t reopen the borders to any States, even low-risk States ... while this is happening. The threat to the safety of West Australians is too great,” Ms Harvey said. Ms Davies added: “We stand alongside the majority of West Australians who have made it clear they want the border to remain closed.” Mr Porter yesterday again said he was “not taking a side”. He said the Commonwealth was instead “assisting the court” and “trying to moderate a middle ground”. The Liberal MP for Pearce said there was a “higher risk” that WA’s “uncompromising” and “all-or-nothing” approach could be found unconstitutional by the High Court, when it hears the case in October. “In these circumstances, what is constitutional and what is popular is not the same thing. So we are trying to act in the best interests of West Australians and all Australians by having protected borders which are also constitutionally sustainable,” he said. Mark McGowan yesterday said a travel bubble on the east coast had not worked and labelled Mr Palmer “the enemy of WA”. The Premier said work would begin on contingency plans to prevent the reintroduction of the virus should Mr Palmer’s legal challenge succeed, but declined to detail what Plan B might look like. Justice Darryl Rangiah, who is deciding the disputed facts before the matter is heard by the High Court later this year, yesterday retired to consider his reasons but did not say when he would deliver them. It came as it was revealed an instructing solicitor in WA’s legal team had fallen ill while at the Queensland hearing and was awaiting test results, presumably for COVID-19.