See you in court: Pauline Hanson issues ultimatum over Queensland’s borders

The issue of border closures is one that has divided the country as Australia continues to tackle the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and works towards a return to normality. But as bars, cafes and restaurants open their doors to increasing numbers of patrons and people look forward to taking holidays at home, one state is holding firm when it comes to the prospect of reopening its borders.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk bucked the trend earlier this month when she announced that the Sunshine State could remain isolated until as late as September, due to concerns over high transmission rates in the likes of Sydney and Melbourne. The news triggered mixed reactions, but one person who isn’t backing the state government is One Nation leader Pauline Hanson.

Now the Queensland senator has hit out at Palaszczuk, describing the plan to keep borders closed as “ridiculous”. Speaking to Karl Stefanovic on the Today show on Wednesday, Hanson branded the state government a “dictatorship” and revealed she is preparing to file a legal complaint in the High Court if borders are not reopened by Thursday, May 28.

“Annastacia Palaszczuk is actually destroying people’s lives, their livelihoods and businesses and they can’t go on,” Hanson said this morning. “[September] is ridiculous. People cannot last that long. For people who can’t even cross the borders to see their loved ones, it’s destroying them.”

“I hate this dictatorship,” she added. “I’m all for leadership but this is a dictatorship and it’s ridiculous. ”

"I'm all for leadership but this is a dictatorship and it's ridiculous." Pauline Hanson is threatening to take Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to the High Court if she doesn't reopen the state's borders. #9Today pic.twitter.com/6XFDH49mmO

— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) May 26, 2020

Senator Hanson, along with others who want the borders reopened sooner, has employed a lawyer to lead the charge, and an online fundraising page has also been set up with the aim of raising $1 million to fund the challenge. So far more than $7,000 has been donated to the cause.

She added: “We didn’t close the borders because of the flu. So we have closed them because of coronavirus.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison also chimed in on the issue of state border closures on Wednesday morning, and in an attempt to distance himself from the debate the PM pointed out that federal medical experts never advised that borders should be closed.

“The National Cabinet has never agreed that there should be borders closed in Australia,” Morrison told Today. “That was never the medical expert advice that came at any time.”Premiers and their governments in states, whether it is South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, Queensland, have all made their own decisions and so they have got to justify those decisions.”

Earlier this week Aussie businessman Clive Palmer threatened legal action against Western Australia, arguing that the state’s border closures were “unconstitutional”. According to SBS, Palmer is set to lodge documents with the High Court this week.

“Closing down the border is not only an act of stupidity by WA Premier Mark McGowan, but it is against the Australian constitution and I am confident the High Court will see it that way as well,” he said in a statement on Sunday.