It is a Tuesday in May 2020, the Coronavirus is still rampant, and you are a well-regarded Australian constitutional lawyer.You are now social distancing and working from home.You note from the news that the Commonwealth Government and the States are working together, mostly quite well. There is considerable debate about what should be done about and who should pay for the Coronavirus ("Virus").Meanwhile, your plans for going to watch football over the Winter are in ruins and your remote web conferencing is starting to become quite tedious.

As you go to make a cup of coffee at your new coffee machine, your phone rings. It is the newly appointed Minister for Biosecurity ("Minister"), Senator Rainier Grimaldi of Victoria. He wants to web conference with you.

You log-in to your account and commence a conference with Senator Grimaldi, who is also conferencing from home.

Senator Grimaldi confides in you, also, his opinion that all of the Australian governments, at all levels, are doing their best to improvise but that the challenge of the Virus has scared the Government and spurred them to draft laws to meet this and all future challenges.Senator Grimaldi is also concerned that, "The Commonwealth has to do everything, here. The States are hopeless and need to be held to account. We had nothing in the national medical stockpile when the Virus hit us!". He then says, "We need the broadest possible law that will confer power on a responsible Minister - such as me! - to fight all the biohazard threats that threaten Australia, including this Virus. It is what the Australian people demand! The Parliament has to get our legislative house in order!"

Senator Grimaldi has emailed you a copy of his draft bill for the Biohazard Defence Act ("the Act") that he says is a "decisive response" to the Virus.The Act's main parts are:

Part 1 confers power on the Minister to:

1. (a)declare a national biohazard emergency wherever circumstances dictate;
2. (b)deny any person an arrival in Australia during an emergency declared in (a);
3. (c)during a national biohazard emergency declared under (a), the Minister may:
4. designate individual persons as biohazards;
5. order the protective detention in State and Territory hospitals of any person designated under (i) for a period of up to 1 year;
6. (d)suspend all Commonwealth, State, and Local Government elections where an emergency is declared by the Minister under (a) above.

Part 2 provides that all Australian Citizens aged 16 or older:

1. (a)must register for any Government digital application ("the App") and must operate the App on any smart phone;
2. (b)must pay to the Board constituted by Part 3 a $500 fee for the installation of the App; and
3. (c)must be able to prove that they have installed the App to the satisfaction of electoral officers at a polling place in order to vote in any Commonwealth election or referendum.

Part 3 establishes a Biohazard Prevention Board ("Board") chaired by the Chief Medical Officer and which is composed of persons appointed by the Minister. The Board:

1. (a)shall promote installation of the App;
2. (b)shall promote regular donations of blood;
3. (c)shall encourage citizens to be tested regularly for the Virus;
4. (d)may require all publication by media (of any kind) on a biohazard-related issue to be first approved by the Board before publication and/or removed on the Chief Medical Officer's direction; and
5. (e)shall collect the App installation fee in 2(b);
6. (f)shall use funds raised by the App fees to purchase needed medical equipment for the national medical stockpile.

Senator Grimaldi tells you that he is confident the bill will pass Parliament as, he says, "The Virus has been a wake-up call for all of us and that we need to prepare for this and future pandemics.It is a core responsibility of Government.".

Senator Grimaldi confides in you that the Attorney-General, Dr Karen McCarron MP, thinks the proposed law "goes too far" and will damage federal-state relations for years.

Senator Grimaldi tells you that he is confident the bill is constitutionally valid. He also dismissed Dr McCarron's hostility as being due to her growing up in Belfast and not being as good a lawyer as you.

Senator Grimaldi seeks your advice on the Act's constitutional validity before he introduces the bill to the Senate as soon as possible. He notes that he wants a clear and well-founded advice - "Get to the point", he says.

Your conference ends and you are left now to advise the Minister.