A paramedic who is taking NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard to court over mandatory jabs is facing a fresh hurdle.
A NSW paramedic challenging mandatory vaccination orders for health workers will be blocked from attending the hearing in person due to court directions excluding unvaccinated people.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard also won’t be present at the Supreme Court when the hearing begins on Thursday, after his lawyers successfully fought a subpoena compelling him to give evidence.
John Edward Larter, an ambulance driver and deputy mayor of the Snowy Valleys Council, is one of the latest citizens to take legal action against vaccination rules for the state’s workers.
In court documents he claimed the laws were invalid and unreasonable, and wanted to continue work as a station leader at Tumut, west of the ACT.
On Monday, the court heard he would need to appear via video link at the proceedings this week under rules enforced by the NSW Chief Justice aimed to stop the spread of Covid-19 in courts.
NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant had agreed to give evidence before the hearing after she was also issued with a subpoena, the court heard.
Shane Prince SC, acting for Mr Larter, said Mr Hazzard had been subpoenaed to testify on what the barrister called “troubling” grounds to mandate jabs for health workers.
Under the law passed on October 22, people would not be allowed to work in health care from September 30 unless they had one jab and November 30 if they were fully vaccinated.
Mr Prince told the court the health minister should front the hearing to explain “why he did what he did” in enacting the “extraordinary” power.
Mr Hazzard’s barrister, Jeremy Kirk SC, said instead of calling the busy minister to give evidence in person, Mr Larter’s lawyers could have simply asked for written reasons.
“If they had made such a request obviously it would have been considered and completely avoided the Minister for Health, dealing with a pandemic, coming to court to give evidence,” he said.
“There was an immediately available, less intrusive method to give reasons … they have made no attempts to do so.”
The court was told Mr Hazzard was also due before budget estimates at NSW parliament on Thursday, the same day as the hearing, fulfilling “one of his basic constitutional roles”.
Justice Christine Adamson joked that Mr Hazzard “might have preferred to be in court” than to face questions before the Legislative Council.
Mr Kirk went on to say his client had faced a “rash” of cases challenging vaccination rules brought in various courts this year and could not be expected to give evidence in them all.
He said Dr Chant was not the decision-maker for the orders but would be able to assist the court as a health expert who advised the government.
Justice Adamson set aside the subpoena to call Mr Hazzard before saying the hearing would be live streamed due to the public interest in such cases.
She said any witnesses who wished for their evidence not to be streamed could be accommodated, adding that it appeared social media had the ability to “bring out the worst in humanity”.
“I would hate to think that anybody is victimised or suffers any hurt for giving evidence in court,” Justice Adamson said.
A separate challenge from Ibrahim Can will also be heard on Thursday and Friday.
Originally published as Paramedic John Edward Larter has to appear before vaccine mandate challenge via video link
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