Chief health officer Brett Sutton was a cult hero, now his advice isn’t even being asked for

The chief health officer was viewed as a cult figure and convenient political cover during the pandemic. Now it seems his words no longer count.

Victoria’s chief health officer, Professor Brett Sutton, is the emblem of overreaching restrictions. He has long been used as political cover for unpopular decisions.

Yet Sutton, in his own words, no longer counts in the pandemic response.

Let’s assess his evidence to a state parliamentary committee on Monday.

He said he had not been consulted about raising the crowd limits at the Australian Open.

Nor had he been consulted about the flagged introduction of mandatory booster shots in Victoria.

Sutton has tried to keep us safe throughout the pandemic.

He was the medical authority seen to shape the more extreme responses, such as curfews and distance limits.

His advice became the default political excuse when Victorians wearied of restrictions which didn’t seem to make much difference.

Brett Sutton has revealed he is now not even being consulted on key issues. Picture: Ian Currie

Now we discover, almost incidentally, that this is so last year. Sutton – and more importantly, the position of CHO – is out of fashion.

From his evidence, Sutton offered no official advice on cancelling elective surgery or halting IVF programs. Apparently, it seems, critical health decisions that affect everyone do not warrant a place in the state’s chief health officer’s prescribed duties.

The lack of Sutton’s input would understandably surprise most Victorians.

The explicit reliance on Sutton’s health advice over the past two years amplified his public prominence.

He became a cult figure.

To some, he was the boy-faced wonder saving us from ourselves.

Sutton revealed he was not consulted about mandates for booster shots, Australian Open crowds or elective surgery bans. Picture: Liam Kidston

To others, he was the worry wart whose catastrophising elevated a quick chat with an Uber deliverer to a social interaction.

Sutton stopped mums from chatting in a playground. He also offered hope when doughnut days belatedly grew into weeks.

Now he, and his position, have been reduced to a political nicety, to be ignored or cited when it suits.

Take Sports Minister Martin Pakula’s tweet when tennis crowd limits were raised: “Breaking my self-imposed Twitter hiatus (which I will return to – it’s blissful) to advise that the chief health officer has agreed to increase the ticketed capacity of the Australian Open …”

According to Sutton, he did no such thing.

The neat conclusion goes that the gap between what the politicians say, and what the chief health officer concludes, has drifted in the iffy pandemic legislation passed late last year.

Premier Daniel Andrews used Sutton’s advice as the default political excuse for unpopular restrictions. Picture: David Crosling

Pandemic decision-making in Victoria has always lurked in secrets and obfuscation.

Playgrounds were wrapped in tape, like crime scenes, and we still fight to know the reasons for such a bizarre measure.

It’s worth noting that mandated vaccines, such a sore point, seem unnecessary, given high voluntary rates for a booster, and the already required third shot for frontline workers, such as teachers, healthcare and transport workers.

Yet it’s the policymaking – not the policy – which matters in this instance.

Premier Dan Andrews has described vaccination mandates “as here”. The process of arriving at this significant health directive, however, excluded the advice of the chief health officer.

One thinks of a puppet after a magic show, collapsed in a web of strings. Sutton may still be Judy, but he has no Punch.

Sutton is a child of the ’70s. He would be familiar with the John Paul Young hit Yesterday’s Hero:

“Weren’t you on television every night

Haven’t I seen you round

Take a look at me, I’m yesterday’s hero

Yesterday’s hero, that’s all I’ll be.”

Originally published as Chief health officer Brett Sutton was a cult hero, now his advice isn’t even being asked for