The Western Australian government’s draconian legislation passed this month to extinguish the legal rights of Clive Palmer and his flagship company, Minerology, is the kind of thing that would not be out of place in a third world autocracy.  

A foundational principle of a free and just society is that the law that governs all Australians is not arbitrary, applies prospectively, that court proceedings are fair and government decisions be subject to review or appeal. 

These are the principles known as the rule of law and it is these principles that the WA government has thrown aside with its petty legislation rushed...