Originally Posted by
dr dre
Australian Constitution:s51 The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power12 to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to:
(ix) Quarantine
(xix) Naturalization and aliens;
(xxvii) immigration and emigration
You're oversimplifying S51. That's also one of two references to 'quarantine' in the Constitution. If it were that simple, the States could've saved a fortune.
Whilst the Biosecurity Act has superseded Quarantine Act, there's much too much to cross reference to find a definitive answer. The
Australian Emergency Management Arrangements, whilst also a simple document, manages to be devoid of 'Legal Speak'. It contains the following references;
In Australia, state and territory governments have primary responsibility for protecting life, property and environment within their borders. State and territory governments establish plans and arrangements for most of the functions essential for effective emergency management (prevention and mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery) and in the interests of community safety and well being.
And...
The roles of the Australian Government in emergency management are to:
• build and promote resilience to emergencies
• support a state or territory, where the emergency response overwhelms their resources and arrangements and Australian Government assistance has been requested
• jointly manage, with an affected state or territory, an emergency that has the potential to affect/has affected: more than one jurisdiction, the broader community or Australian Govt areas of responsibility; or is of national consequence (e.g. pandemic...)
• take primary responsibility for coordinating the response to an emergency that is not the responsibility of a state or territory (e.g. an emergency outside Australia that significantly affects Australians or Australian interests)
• support the states and territories through cost sharing arrangements to alleviate the financial burden associated with the provision of emergency relief and recovery services and activities
• where necessary, provide direct assistance to affected communities
On a side note, I stumbled across this in the Constitution;
117. Rights of residents in States
A subject of the Queen, resident in any State, shall not be subject in any other State to any disability or discrimination which would not be equally applicable to him if he were a subject of the Queen resident in such other State.
Just found that one interesting...