Quick day two recap of White Australia Party v the Commonwealth in the High Court. The court now adjourns until justices give their judgement at a later date.

Quick day one recap of White Australia Party v the Commonwealth in the High Court.

Australia has banned a political party and over the next two days the High Court is being asked whether the government had the constitutional power to do it. After the Bondi terror attack by radical Indian Islamists, the Commonwealth passed sweeping new prohibited hate group laws. Those laws were strangely later used to designate the White Australia Party (which had zero involvement with Bondi attack) a prohibited hate group, exposing continued membership, directing activities, recruitment, funding and support to serious criminal penalties. The party is now challenging the regime in the High Court on three major constitutional grounds: whether the Commonwealth had the legislative power to enact it, whether it impermissibly burdens the implied freedom of political communication, and whether it gives punitive powers to the executive that constitutionally belong to the courts. Whatever you think of the plaintiff, the implications go far beyond one organisation. This case is about the limits of government power, political association, and how far the state can go in deciding which political organisations are permitted to exist. I’ll be covering the case at the high court with regular updates.