‘Haunted’ tower residents want to know why government won’t say sorry

Public housing tower residents who were placed under an immediate hard lockdown in July are distressed that the state government is refusing to apologise.

Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass found the government’s decision to lock down nine public housing towers in North Melbourne and Flemington with no warning on July 4 violated the human rights of about 3000 tenants and has urged it to apologise.

Khalid Farah was locked down in the tower at 33 Alfred Street.Credit: Justin McManus

In her report tabled to State Parliament yesterday, Ms Glass said the immediate isolation had affected residents’ health and wellbeing while the rest of the state had the chance to prepare for restrictions.

“The rushed lockdown was not compatible with the residents’ human rights, including their right to humane treatment when deprived of liberty,” she said.

“In my opinion, based on the evidence gathered by the investigation, the action appeared to be contrary to the law.”

The public housing towers were locked down in a bid to stem the spread of COVID-19 as Melbourne teetered on the brink of its devastating coronavirus second wave.

The lockdown lasted five days at eight of the nine towers but because of high infection rates, residents at 33 Alfred Street, North Melbourne, were subject to another nine days of isolation – prompting Ms Glass’ investigation.

Khalid Farah, a resident at 33 Alfred Street, said everyone in the towers supported the lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“It was the way in which it was handled,” he said.

“We all deserve to be treated like human beings, regardless of whatever is going on in the world.”

Mr Farah said he wanted an apology but more importantly he wanted the government to bring in legislation so that the same thing would never happen again.

Deputy Chief Health Officer Dr Annaliese van Diemen.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

Australian Muslim Social Services Agency deputy director Saeed Ali, who was one of the first people on the scene helping the residents, said the report meant people outside the towers would know the truth about how chaotic the situation was. “The world now knows,” he said.

Deputy Chief Health Officer Dr Annaliese van Diemen told the Ombudsman that she was “quite terrified ... that we would see within a week many hundreds of cases” but that delaying a day would not have made “a hugely significant difference”.

The Ombudsman’s investigation found that waiting a day would have allowed for preparations which would have mitigated the human rights impact on tenants.

The government said it did not agree the lockdown may have breached the law or human rights.

Premier Daniel Andrews on Thursday.Credit: Penny Stephens

Premier Daniel Andrews defended on Thursday his government’s handling of the tower lockdown, saying it was based on health advice, despite the decision being seemingly made by government ministers.

“There is no rulebook for this,” he said.

Ms Glass said the lockdown decision appeared to be traceable to a cabinet crisis council meeting at 1.45 that afternoon. Cabinet documents are confidential and the Ombudsman’s request for them was denied.

The crisis cabinet at the time was made up of Mr Andrews and ministers James Merlino, Tim Pallas, Jacinta Allan, Jenny Mikakos, Jill Hennessy, Martin Pakula and Lisa Neville.

When asked yesterday, Housing Minister Richard Wynne refused to say who made the decision to go against Dr van Diemen’s advice, but said he supported it.

Housing Minister Richard Wynne refused to offer residents an apology as recommended by Ms Glass in the report.Credit: Simon Schluter 

He refused to offer residents an apology. “We make no apology for saving people’s lives,” he said.

A resident, who did not want to be named, welcomed the report and said the community was considering a class action.

“It’s a vindication of what actually happened,” he said. “We are looking at all our legal options.

“It was traumatic. People were afraid and no one believed us. I’m haunted.”

A woman looks out her window at a North Melbourne public housing tower on July 5 during the hard lockdown.Credit: Penny Stephens

Another resident, Kelli Willis, said she thought some people in her community had post-traumatic stress disorder after the ordeal.

“We all decided to get past it in a way and [the report] has brought back a lot of the emotions. I’ve got really emotional,” she said.

“The way it was carried out was shocking; that’s why we’re so traumatised. If they actually had a plan, it possibly could have been better. I can’t believe they can’t even say sorry.”

Inner Melbourne Community Legal chief executive Damian Stock said the government’s refusal to apologise was undoing all the work the Health Department had done to try and re-engage with the community.

“We’ve seen them apologise in aged care, in hotel quarantine, it’s surprising that there’s been no recognition of … at the very least the immediacy of the actions that were taken,” he said.

Mr Stock said the organisation was seeking advice to see if it could take legal action on behalf of the residents.

Nine-year-old Shieff Abraham was staying with his grandmother at 33 Alfred Street, which was locked down for 14 days, when police swarmed in.

“I was just really shocked to see all the police gathered around, no one could get their groceries, no one could see their friends. I couldn’t even see my dad,” he said.

Shieff Abraham was locked down with his grandmother.Credit: Justin McManus

“I felt really lonely and I was really sad that I didn’t get to go out and play.”

Ms Glass has been outspoken recently against the Andrews government, accusing it of denying her agency all the funding it needs to do its work, accusations the government has rejected.

The investigation found a temporary lockdown was warranted and did successfully contain the outbreak but that its immediacy was not based on public health advice.

“The rushed lockdown was not compatible with the residents’ human rights, including their right to humane treatment when deprived of liberty,” Ms Glass said.

“In my opinion, based on the evidence gathered by the investigation, the action appeared to be contrary to the law.”

"But proper consideration of human rights before the lockdown began would have put health, not security, front and centre," Ms Glass said.

She said that temporary fencing erected outside 33 Alfred Street to allow residents some fresh air for the first time in more than a week was “degrading and inhumane”. It was removed the following day after complaints.

“Residents told investigators the use of temporary fencing made them feel humiliated and unsafe, with many likening it to a ‘cage’ or prison exercise space,” her report said.