Child Protection Minister Rachel Sanderson defends emailing Transition Committee chief about quarantine exemptions

Emails have surfaced from a minister to the head of the Transition Committee asking for students from a prestigious school to avoid hotel quarantine.

Child Protection Minister Rachel Sanderson. Picture: Matt Loxton.

Child Protection Minister Rachel Sanderson emailed the head of the Transition Committee seeking quarantine exemptions for children attending a prestigious Victorian school, freedom of information documents have revealed.

Ms Sanderson has come under fire from the Opposition for taking the requests from parents whose children were studying at Geelong Grammar directly to former Premier and Cabinet chief executive Jim McDowell – but she maintains she was only trying to help her constituents.

It is understood multiple Labor MPs, including Stephen Mullighan and Susan Close, also wrote to the Premier seeking help for constituents on border and COVID related issues.

The documents, obtained through an FOI request by the opposition, show Ms Sanderson emailed Mr McDowell on August 17 last year, when visitors from Victoria – including children – were required to spend 14 days in hotel isolation.

It followed an email from a constituent who was concerned about the “mental health and wellbeing” of their children and offered to isolate them on a “remote property”.

They told Ms Sanderson they were “pleading for an exemption”.

Former Premier and Cabinet Department chief and Transition Committee chair Jim McDowell. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

She forwarded the email to Mr McDowell and wrote: “Is it possible to please look into this situation and if there are any conditions or restrictions that would make it possible for these children to isolate with their families.”

Ms Sanderson also indicated she would forward other similar requests for help – but Mr McDowell later advised her to contact deputy state health controller Dr Evan Everest.

Another email, forwarded to Mr McDowell by Ms Sanderson’s electoral office, asked for help to approve the travel of a specialist worker who had come from England to install a bell at St Andrews Church in Walkerville.

The worker was doing another job in Canberra and was twice knocked back for a special exemption to work in South Australia.

A government spokeswoman said Ms Sanderson forwarded the emails relating to Victorian travel to Mr McDowell “as she thought he was the appropriate person to forward the correspondence to at that time”.

She said the email relating to the bell worker had been “sent in error” and should have been sent to the Health Department.

Geelong Grammar. Picture: Mark Wilson

“She is fully aware of the strict quarantine conditions that are applied to keep South Australians safe,” the spokeswoman said.

Opposition health spokesman Chris Picton accused Ms Sanderson of using “special processes” to help her constituents.

“While people with sick and dying relatives were left waiting for months to see if they could come to South Australia, Rachel Sanderson used a different process via the head of the Premier’s Department for these Geelong Grammar families,” Mr Picton said.

“Even worse, after being told she should not contact head of the state’s transition committee about these matters, she ignored that advice and it happened again later.”

Mr Picton said there was a “stark difference” between writing to the Premier, as Labor MPs had done, and “personally emailing the head of the Transition Committee for special exemptions”.

“There’s absolutely no issue with anyone making representations through proper processes for exemptions on genuine compassionate grounds,” he said.

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