Editing Hal Colebatch (section)

===Spanish flu===
By late 1918, the [[Spanish flu]] had become a pandemic, and returning soldiers aboard the [[Boonah crisis|HMAT ''Boonah'']] were falling sick. As the Colonial Secretary, Colebatch was responsible for public health. With the ship approaching Fremantle, Colebatch set up an emergency isolation camp on [[Garden Island (Western Australia)|Garden Island]] to supplement the existing quarantine facility at [[Woodman Point]]. He also considered using Rottnest Island if need be, but it was not ideal as it was further from the mainland than Garden Island.{{sfn|Colebatch|2004|p=57}} The [[List of mayors of Fremantle|mayor of Fremantle]], William Montgomery, demanded that Lefroy disallow the ''Boonah'' from entering the port. However Colebatch stated that he believed that the sick soldiers were "entitled to be taken off the boat as soon as land is reached",{{sfn|Colebatch|2004|p=58}} and that allowing the ship to continue on to the [[Eastern states of Australia|eastern states]] would result in most of the other passengers on board being infected. As a result, several hundred of the 1,200 people aboard the ship were quarantined at Woodman Point.{{sfn|Colebatch|2004|p=59}} Colebatch denounced the federal government's handling of the matter, as despite it being responsible for shipping and quarantine under the [[Australian constitution]], it did very little.{{sfn|Colebatch|2004|pp=58–59}}

The state and federal governments agreed that any state with a Spanish flu outbreak should be declared an infected area, which would stop all land communication and sea communication would be quarantined. Following Parliament's recess for Christmas 1918, Lefroy and two cabinet ministers attended conferences in [[Melbourne]], leaving Colebatch as acting premier. During that time, the Spanish flu broke out in South Australia and [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]],{{sfn|Colebatch|2004|p=60}} however these states refused to follow the agreement and did not declare an infected area. Despite this, Colebatch decided to close the Western Australian border. Coincidentally, a shipping strike meant that there was no coastal shipping in the state, but transcontinental trains were still running when he decided to close the border. Passengers on a train from Adelaide were put in an improvised quarantine camp in [[Parkeston, Western Australia|Parkeston]] just east of Kalgoorlie where the railway gauge changed. [[William Watt (Australian politician)|William Watt]], the acting [[Prime Minister of Australia|prime minister]], threatened Western Australia with dire consequences for impounding the train.{{sfn|Colebatch|2004|p=61}} Watt told Lefroy that:

{{blockquote|The Commonwealth Government will hold your government responsible for all damage done to trains, expenditure incurred, and loss sustained in connection with seizures. Unless I receive from you before 5 p.m. on Wednesday the 5th inst. a definite assurance that no further trains will be seized, and that those detailed will be restored, I will order the complete suspension of the railway service between Kalgoorlie and [[Port Augusta]] without further delay. I regret having to resort to drastic procedure, but owing to the failure of your Government to extend the courtesy of prior notification to this Government and before action was taken by your Government, and the continued resistance of the authorities in your State to the operation of the Quarantine Agreement, no other course remains open.{{sfn|Colebatch|2004|p=61}}}}

Lefroy decided that he would not stand in the way of Colebatch and further action was up to him.{{sfn|Colebatch|2004|p=61}} South Australia eventually declared infection meaning the railway would have been shut down under the agreement. Because of the shipping strike, Lefroy and the two ministers could not get back to Western Australia without taking the train. Colebatch decided to allow a special train in, as long as the people aboard quarantined, but Watt disallowed this from happening. In general, Western Australians strongly supported Colebatch's actions during the Spanish flu pandemic. He earned further praise when he ended a two-month-long tramway strike.{{sfn|Colebatch|2004|p=62}}