K974,
Thanks for the references. I took a look. Potter v Minahan was mainly a case about the White Australia laws and whether an individual had or had not been born in Australia. The judges considered whether a person born in Australia has a common law or constitutional right to entry. They do not, legislation can prevent them, here's the extract from the ALRC;
7.12 In Australia, O’Connor J said, in
Potter v Minahan, that a citizen of Australia is entitled to ‘depart from and re-enter Australia as he pleases without let or hindrance unless some law of the Australian community has in that respect decreed the contrary’.
[5]I confined no precedent on right of return regarding Wilfred Burchett. There are many references to his alleged treason in Russia, Vietnam, Korea and China. He lost a defamation case in the NSW Supreme Court.
Australians have no right under "International Law". That "Law" is a set of agreements between governments which agree to them. There is no privity to individuals.
bacci
