Politicians forget that swords have two edges at their peril. Victorian premier Daniel Andrews is already at risk of being cut cruelly by his own sword once. The “industrial manslaughter” laws he created are being used to force an investigation into his bungled hotel quarantine scheme which unleashed Victoria’s massive wave of COVID-19 infections. Now another of his own blades is swinging back at him.
Last November, when the Victorian government introduced contingency fees for class actions, few would have guessed that within a year Premier Dan Andrews and his government would be at risk of being eaten alive by their own creation.
Victoria’s contingency fees laws made it the only state in Australia that allows class action lawyers to pocket a percentage of their clients’ payouts. For months, Victoria was warned that its laws would only power a predatory lawyer’s lavish picnic. But, with Labor heavyweights like former premier and state party administrator Steve Bracks sitting at the helm of Maurice Blackburn, one of Australia’s biggest class action law firms, such warnings fell on deaf ears. As did accusations of conflict of interest.
Andrews may come to repent his deafness at leisure.
Thanks to the ineptitude that has been revealed at the Coate inquiry into Melbourne’s failed hotel quarantine arrangements, class actions alleging government negligence are off to a flying start[…]
A modest contingency fee, of say 5 per cent, could result in one of the nation’s biggest paydays for lawyers. At that rate, a relatively modest payout of $1bn would hand $50m to the lawyers.
Thanks to Andrews’s contingency fee laws and the staggering cost to businesses forcibly shut down because of botched hotel quarantine, the circling legal vultures are being presented with the fattest, ripest carcass they could have dreamed of. At least two have landed and taken the first nibbles. More are circling lower and lower.
At least one lawsuit aims to show that the government was not just incompetent, but in fact acted unlawfully when it imposed a curfew on Melbourne. Which was not, as Andrews claimed, on “medical advice”. Statements from chief health officer Brett Sutton have alleged that the curfew was a unilateral political decision by Andrews himself.
[businesswoman Michelle] Loielo’s case, which is seeking a declaration that the curfew is unlawful, is moving quickly. The Crown Solicitor has been ordered to file minutes by Sunday and Loielo is required to file evidence on Monday.
If this case goes to the Court of Appeal, which Loielo is after, Victorians will know soon if they have been unlawfully confined to their homes.
If she wins, the curfew would need to be removed. This would not be a public health disaster. If a replacement curfew were needed for legally valid reasons it could be imposed immediately.
But for Andrews, it would be a catastrophe. Others would be able to rely on Loielo’s victory. That could mean that those who has been negatively affected by the curfew — and can quantify their loss or damage — would have a solid base for more claims.
Oddly enough, the national leader in class actions is holding back. Does at least one law firm have a sense of propriety?
With claims of this scale, it might seem surprising that the powerhouse in class actions, Maurice Blackburn, looks like sitting this one out. Maurice Blackburn, it will be recalled, is a major financial backer of the Victorian Labor Party, which is now administered by the firm’s chairman, Steve Bracks.
The firm says at this stage it is not looking at launching proceedings over the pandemic.
Looks like conflict of interest also cuts both ways.
All in all, the petard by which Andrews has hoist himself is diabolical, no matter which way it goes.
If the government loses or settles, it will be undeniable that the government’s incompetence cost billions and hammered thousands of businesses and millions of employees. If it wins, the stink will still hang around, with the added whiff of the government using its high-powered lawyers to deny justice to its citizens.
Meanwhile, the industrial manslaughter case is wending its way through the system. Fittingly, the outcome of that case could mean that the government ends up paying for legal action against the parties responsible for mishandling hotel quarantine – itself.
In his hubris and arrogant incompetence, Daniel Andrews has sharpened enough swords to impale himself and his government for years to come.
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