Jeroen Weimar explains decision to conceal bombshell court ruling

Covid Commander Jeroen Weimar says Victorians should be confident the state government “will do everything we can to hold your information confidential and privileged”.

Covid Commander Jeroen Weimar has conceded he wanted to keep secret the risk that Victorians’ contact-­tracing information could be shared with third parties ­because it would cause fear and anxiety in the community.Mr Weimar on Wednesday fronted the media for the first time since the Herald Sun ­revealed the government had deceived Victorians by promising the confidential data would only ever be used for public health purposes – while ­acknowledging in a secret court case that there was a “risk (it) might be disclosed to third parties”. It was also revealed that Mr Weimar had attempted to have details of the case suppressed for five years. On Wednesday, he said it was his call to push for the suppression order – dubbed an ­attempt to “turn off the light of the court proceedings” by prominent barrister Paul Hayes.

Covid Commander Jeroen Weimar says it was his call to try and suppress the court case. Picture: David Crosling

Mr Weimar said: “We wanted that not to be held in open public because of the undermining and the anxiety that would cause to people if they felt that there was a risk that we will be required to hand over the data.

“People would then not share information and therefore lead to greater outbreaks.”

The Victorian WorkCover Authority, also known as WorkSafe, had requested the Department of Health hand over contact-tracing data as part of its probe into the hotel quarantine disaster.

The department went to court in a bid to protect the ­information but the case was dismissed after WorkSafe withdrew its requests.

Justice Andrew Keogh noted that there was no “absolute protection” of ­contact-tracing information on public interest immunity grounds.

Mr Weimar conceded that having to tell Victorians their data could have been shared would not have inspired confidence in contact tracing.

“An environment (where) you’re saying, ‘People are trying to get hold of the data and we might be forced by a court to (share it)’, is not a confidence-inspiring position to be in,” he said, adding that no data had been so far been released.

“We do not see any prospects for any other organisation seeking similar action.

“The public should be absolutely confident, based on the entire experience of the last two years, that we will do everything we can to hold your information confidential.”

Shadow attorney-general Matt Bach said Freedom of ­Information requests had showed there were 18 occasions where the state government disclosed QR code information. But that was high-level aggregated and ­depersonalised data, rather than individual details.

JACINTA ALLAN DEFENDS BID FOR SECRECY

Acting Premier Jacinta Allan is under fire after she ­defended the government’s ­decision to conceal the risk that Victorians’ contact-tracing information could be ­obtained by third parties.

The Herald Sun revealed on Tuesday that the government had deceived Victorians by repeatedly promising the confidential data would only ever be used for public health purposes – while acknowledging in a ­secret court case there was “a risk contact-tracing and QR code information might be disclosed to third parties”.

It even sought to suppress the Supreme Court fight for five years.

Asked on Tuesday whether Victorians had deserved to know the truth, Ms Allan ­defended the government’s bid for secrecy claiming it was to avoid a “baseless scare campaign”.

“In the opinion of the Department of Health, in order to prevent exactly this … the decision was taken in the balance of providing confidence to the community that this wasn’t a matter that needed to have that level of misinformation spread about it,” she said.

Jacinta Allan claimed the government wanted to avoid a ‘baseless scare campaign’ by suppressing secret court rulings. Picture: Sarah Matray

But prominent barrister Paul Hayes said the acting Premier’s claims did “a grave disservice to the important role of the media in our democracy”, and that the government had throughout 2021 been “giving an assurance to Victorians that it wasn’t able to give because of the uncertainty of the outcome of the case”.

Former premier Jeff Kennett said: “Jacinta would be better being open with the public, rather than putting political spin on a situation which is just totally unacceptable”.

The Herald Sun revealed on Tuesday that the Victorian WorkCover Authority, also known as WorkSafe, last year demanded the Department of Health hand over details of guests and staff at quarantine hotels as it probed the government’s disastrous handling of the botched scheme.

The government took the dispute to the Supreme Court – a case it claimed it won but which was actually dismissed when WorkSafe withdrew its bid to access the information.

However, Justice Andrew Keogh, considering the case, stated: “There cannot be an ­absolute protection of contact-tracing information on public interest immunity grounds which renders it immune from disclosure”.

Covid commander Jeroen Weimar, pictured with Premier Daniel Andrews, launched a legal bid to keep the Supreme Court ruling secret for five years. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

It came despite Premier Daniel Andrews having claimed in November last year that QR code data would be destroyed after 28 days and “only used for public health purposes and nothing else”.

The Herald Sun’s uncovering of the case prompted Ms Allan to concede on Tuesday that even under the state’s new pandemic laws, which sought to strengthen the protection of contact-tracing information, it could still be shared with third parties such as police or government agencies for public health purposes in “life or death” situations.

“That is a very, very narrow base that is only there for those extreme circumstances,” Ms Allan said.

To date, no data has been released.

The families of victims who died during Victoria’s second wave, sparked by hotel quarantine outbreaks, said the government’s deception came as no surprise.

Gabrielle Cordwell, who lost her grandfather Alf Jordan, 90, described it as “smoke and mirrors”.

“It’s really hard to believe anything that they’ve had to say because it’s all been pretty untrustworthy,” Ms Cordwell said.

QUESTIONS THE GOVERNMENT  REFUSED TO ANSWER

The Herald Sun submitted these questions in writing to the state government.

1. Acting Premier Jacinta Allan said on Tuesday that Victorians “deserve respect”. Why then did the government conceal the truth that there was – as Jeroen Weimar said in court – “a risk that contact tracing and QR code information might be disclosed to  third parties”? 
   No response
2. How much did the government spend in legal fees fighting WorkCover’s attempts to access the data and to suppress the case, and why did it want it kept secret for five years?
   No response.
3. Ms Allan also asserted on Tuesday that new pandemic legislation introduced in early December strengthened the protections around people’s data, but conceded: “Should any independent agency choose to challenge this matter (access to contact tracing information) in court, that’s a matter for them.” Do Victoria’s new pandemic powers prevent any third party, including government agencies, from applying to access the data through the court? Under exactly what circumstances could this data be released?
4. Did not respond in writing to the Herald Sun but told a press conference there were “very, very, very narrow” grounds for contact tracing information to be accessed, including on “public health grounds that has a life or death situation before it”.

Originally published as Jeroen Weimar explains decision to conceal bombshell court ruling