Adam Thurrowgood made headlines in July 2020 after the truckie sped through a border checkpoint and refused to show his licence – instead insisted on asking a patient policeman to guess his gender. He filmed himself interacting with the fed-up policeman, which showed the cop telling the driver he needed to give his details, and then trying to drag him out of the cabin after we refused numerous times. A bizarre exchange followed as the cop got increasingly sick of the driver’s nonsense:
“You work for the corporation known as the Queensland Police… Am I a man?”
“Well, what do you identify as?”
“No, it’s a yes or no question, am I a man?”
“It’s 2020, mate. What do you identify as?”
Adam Thurrowgood released this second video a few days later to further reinforce the OPCA strategies involved:
The Courier Mail: “Border officer hangs off truck in heated attempt at arrest“:
Daily Mail: “Infuriating moment truck driver refuses to tell police his name at Queensland border“:
THE ARGUMENTS
Both the “living man” and “traveling” arguments have already been rejected by the higher courts in Queensland, and are binding on Adam’s magistrate. (See Hubner v Erbacher [2004] QDC 345, Van den Hoorn v Ellis [2010] QDC 451, Kosteska v Magistrate Manthey & Anor [2013] QCA 105, R v Stoneman [2013] QCA 209, and Queensland Police Service v Messer [2016] QDC 214 generally)
The “government is a corporation” myth has also been rejected in the courts, both the SEC registration, in Commonwealth Bank of Australia v Haughton [2020] SASC 135 and others, and the reasons for government departments having an ABN, in Elston v Commonwealth of Australia [2013] FCA 108 and others.
Adam remarked he had a “big red constitution book” in the cab. (Quick and Garran’s Annotated constitution of the Australian Commonwealth) He should get that and turn to page 378, under ss 49, and note that the State borders DO EXIST and that section 123 of the Commonwealth Constitution provides for the alteration these boundaries. You should also check out sections 111, 121 and 124 in relation to this. Traffic and roads are a matter under the Residual Legislative Powers of the States, as Quick and Garran also makes clear on page 935.
Regarding these powers, in ss 330(3) “As a Federal Constitution” on page 794 it states: “The Constitution draws a line between the enumerated powers assigned to the Federal Government and the residue of powers reserved to the State Governments. Both sets of Governments are limited in their sphere of action, but within their several spheres they are supreme.” On page 928, it makes very clear that the Commonwealth Government cannot encroach on the sphere of the Residual Legislative Powers… they are solely the possession of the State Governments, and they are each sovereign over their own sphere of legislative powers.
See also in ss 160, “The Plenary Nature of the Powers” on page 509, the plenary or absolute nature of the powers within these spheres, when made by their respective parliaments, are, as plenary as the Imperial Parliament itself.
The power to make laws “…for the peace, order and good government.” of the State, that appear in the Constitution Act 2001 extends to those measures under Public Health Act 2005 (Qld) induced by the declaration of a public health emergency. Under these measures, the length of a public health emergency can be extended, and directives imposed regarding consequential restrictions during outbreaks. The directives do not require further assent or other legislative processes, the Public Health Act 2005 (Qld) has already received the required assent and this Act itself provides for these directives to be made.
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