Essay: Coronavirus Outbreak: Australian Government Institutes Travel Ban and Quarantine Measures

Earlier this year a mystery illness began to spread throughout the city of Wuhan, China and throughout the Hubei province as a whole. This illness is a coronavirus, a virus that causes symptoms that can range in severity from the common cold to pneumonia, kidney failure or even death. Currently, there are no drugs or vaccines that can cure victims or prevent the illness from spreading amongst people. Coronaviruses are most often spread from animals to humans, and it is believed that this coronavirus, known as the novel coronavirus, originated from bats. Scientists have traced the origin of the coronavirus to the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan. However, since bats are not sold at the market the scientists believe an animal sold at the market must have acted as an intermediary between bats and humans . The novel coronavirus has spread rapidly and infected people across the world. Currently, the coronavirus has cases in twenty-five countries around the globe with over 24,000 people infected (mostly in China) and 490 patients dead as a result of the illness. On January 30, the World Health Organization stated that the novel coronavirus was a Global Health Emergency . Due to the rapidity that the virus has spread across China, and throughout the world, many countries have instituted travel bans and quarantines to prevent the spread of the illness to their jurisdictions. One of the countries to enact a travel ban, as well as an intense quarantine to protect their citizens, is Australia.
Currently, Australia has thirteen cases of coronavirus in the country. To prevent the continued spread of the coronavirus from China to their country, the Australian government has instituted both a travel ban of Chinese citizens from entering Australia and a quarantine of Australians traveling back from China to Australia. These Australians will be quarantined on the remote Christmas Island, a former immigrant detention center, where they are to be held for fourteen days. The Australian government is attempting to evacuate Australians who may be trapped in Wuhan . The situation is difficult for the commonwealth to manage because they are trying to protect their citizens abroad from contracting the illness while also attempting to prevent the possible continued spread across Australia. Many Australians in China have been critical of the evacuation plan by the Australian government claiming that they deserve to be sent to cities within Australia to receive the best medical care, not sent to a remote island that used to be known for its detention center. Since many of these Australians are Chinese Australians, many have stated that they believe they would be receiving a better evacuation plan if they were white. Also, other countries evacuation plans for their citizens in China have sent them to medical facilities in large cities within their countries which has added to their frustrations. The Australians in China have been hesitant to accept the evacuation from the Australian government because some believe that receiving medical care at Christmas Island is not worth leaving Wuhan . In the article, Staying in Wuhan more risky than 14 days on Christmas Island, Raina MacIntyre argues that Chinese Australians that are trapped in China should accept the Australian government’s evacuation plan rather than stay in Wuhan. She also argues that the quarantine will be effective in preventing the spread of the coronavirus by discussing the history of quarantines in Australia and the laws that enable the country to enact a quarantine .
In her article, MacIntyre discusses the prior success of quarantines in preventing disease in Australia by citing that Australia has had a Federal Quarantine Act for a long time and also has many other state public health acts supporting quarantines. Although MacIntyre discusses why she believes a quarantine would be effective for preventing Australians from contracting the coronavirus, she does not elaborate on the legality of the quarantine method on the Christmas Island territory. In the article, MacIntyre never answers the question of “how is it legal to quarantine Australians on a remote island for two weeks out of fear for public health?”. In this paper, I will investigate this issue by looking into laws regarding public health (including the Federal Quarantine Act that was mentioned in MacIntyre’s article) and laws that may apply by requiring the citizens to stay on Christmas Island for two weeks.
In Australia, the ability to declare a public health emergency is different dependent on the the laws in each state. There are differences in what certain states define as an emergency, who declares that emergency, and how long the emergency shall last. The only specific power the federal government has in public health emergencies is with regard to quarantines . In 1908, the Australian Parliament enacted the Quarantine Act of 1908. This legislation which has been amended many times until 2013 stated that the Governor-General had the power to enact a federal quarantine if he or she believed that an emergency existed . However, this act was eventually replaced by the Biosecurity Act of 2015. The new Biosecurity Act of 2015 was created to “replace 14 outdated Acts with a modern, cohesive framework for protecting the State from the threat of animal, plant, pests, diseases, weeds and contaminants” . The Quarantine Act of 1918 (amended version of Quarantine Act of 1908) gives the federal government the power to override any state or territory’s policies on quarantines. Also, the commonwealth, states, and territories have an agreement with one another to coordinate in the case of a public health emergency. Furthermore, in times of a public health emergency, like the current coronavirus epidemic, it is especially vital that there is an understanding between the states and the commonwealth of where the power to enact an emergency law lies. Confusion of who has jurisdiction to make these laws can become troublesome especially in times of an emergency when it is important for authorities to quickly and in coordinance. In the University of Tasmania law review, they state that the effectiveness of a declaration of a public health emergency is dependent on the willingness to participate of the public . They state that “one of the most obvious ways of retaining community confidence during an emergency is for the law to recognize the importance of public participation of and regard for the civil rights of the citizens” . Therefore, it is important to act favorably towards the public during a time of a public health emergency.
In order to fact check and dive deeper into what MacIntyre introduced regarding public health laws in Australia, we must apply the legislation discussed above to what is currently going on with the coronavirus quarantine in Christmas Island. As stated, each state has the ability to pass their own public health legislation and emergency laws legislation. Currently, the Queensland Parliament is pushing emergency health laws through their government that would give authorities broad powers to find and quarantine any possible coronavirus patients . Under Australian public health laws, Queensland has the jurisdiction to enact this legislation to prevent the spread of coronavirus within their state. If the commonwealth were to enact a federal domestic quarantine this would override the current quarantine laws in Queensland. However, since the quarantine system that the commonwealth has enacted only applies to citizens who are abroad right now, and therefore not citizens currently residing in Queensland, the emergency health laws pushed through would apply to the people of Queensland. Furthermore, based on Australian law, the federal government has the power to enact a quarantine similar to the one they have enacted on Christmas Island. However, this is the only specific power that the federal government has with regard to a public health emergency and therefore the states can enact their own legislation on how to prevent the spread of the coronavirus throughout their state as long as it is not contradicting a declared federal quarantine. As the University of Tasmania law review stated, the government needs the cooperation of the public to be successful in containing an epidemic like the coronavirus. Currently, some citizens of Australia, especially those who are currently trapped in China are unhappy with how the Australian government is handling this public health emergency. Many individuals have said that they were rather stay in Wuhan than go to the detention centers on Christmas Island. One Australian woman trapped in Wuhan said that she believes going to Christmas Island is even more unpredictable than staying in Wuhan because of the lack of a proper medical facility on the island . Although it was stated that the cooperation of the public was essential to the success of a public health emergency, it is different in this situation. The Australians trapped in Wuhan only have the choice of remaining there or being evacuated to Christmas Island. They may not be in favor of the quarantine on Christmas Island, but they do not have another choice if they want to return to Australia for the time being. Therefore, even though many of the Australians in China may not be cooperating with the quarantine put in place by the federal government, they are not jeopardizing the health of Australians at home, and therefore their participation is not vital to the safety of Australia.