Article by Sarah Moulds. Australian Public Law.
May 1, 2020.
In response to the complex and potentially devastating threat posed by COVID-19, Parliaments around Australia have transferred unprecedented powers to executive governments and their agencies, often with the full support of the communities they represent. The usually sturdy doctrine of separation of powers that defines Australia’s constitutional democracy wobbled as Minister after Minister was handed sweeping discretionary powers designed to facilitate the fight against the invisible COVID-19 enemy.
This post briefly describes some of the specialist parliamentary committees that have been set up to oversee the extraordinary powers transferred to the executive in response to COVID-19, and offers some thoughts on the capacity of these committees to deliver meaningful rights scrutiny in these exceptional circumstances.
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