Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews hits back at the media over triple-0 report accusations

A heated Daniel Andrews has fired back at journalists over accusations surrounding his handling of a major issue.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has hit back at the media after he finally responded to a damning report into the state’s triple-0 service that was linked to 33 deaths during its Covid pandemic struggles.

The independent report, by Emergency Management Inspector-General Tony Pearce, found the speed the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority (ESTA) was answering calls at had “fallen below community and government expectations” from December 2020 to May 2022.

It was released on Saturday, with Emergency Services Minister Jaclyn Symes and Mr Pearce present to answer questions from the media.

But Mr Andrews was not at the press conference and did not address the report until Tuesday morning.

It led to accusations from the state opposition and journalists that he was attempting to dodge the issue, but Mr Andrew’s delivered a fiery and defiant retort when he was asked about why he had not spoken earlier.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews hit back at assertions that he was avoiding talking about the report. Picture NCA NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui

“I‘m not going to play that game because it’s not a game. It’s very, very serious, it’s very significant,” he said on Tuesday.

“I think that sort of questioning with the greatest of respect diminishes the pain and the suffering of those families and so many other families who have lost someone because of this global pandemic.”

He then gave a timeline of what he had been doing for the last three days.

“In terms of what I was doing, I was at home on Saturday, so if you think I was off doing something exotic, I wasn’t.

“I was at home on Sunday … I was dealing with a rather sick child.

“On Monday, I had back-to-back cabinet meetings, as I do every single Monday. It’s very rare that I would come and do a press conference with you on a Monday.

“I usually come out on a Tuesday and here we are.”

The timing of the report’s release has also been criticised after it was tabled on a Saturday just before a major AFL qualifying final between Geelong and Collingwood.

Members of the media have accused the government of attempting to “avoid scrutiny” by dropping the report at a time when many newsrooms have less staff.

.@LaTrioli talking about the timing of the release of the ESTA report, on Saturday. Worth noting we couldn’t reach anyone at the Coroner’s Court on Sat, for a report detailing 33 deaths. This is because they work M-F and another reason why a weekend release helps avoid scrutiny.

— Aisha Dow (@aishamae) September 4, 2022

Saturday press conferences - with most political/health reporters off work - tend to be minor announcements like unsafe product warnings, a couple of new trams or a new event

Today - new info about 33 dead Victorians, which was meant to be published during the week

Appalling https://t.co/kGSWStgpaI

— Paul Sakkal (@paulsakkal) September 3, 2022

I know the State Govt would be keen to move away from the weekend’s ESTA report.. but the Premier’s social media account putting out a play on ‘next top model’ in regards to new station announcements feels slightly odd… given we are yet to hear from him on the report. pic.twitter.com/EU7V0IXDSa

— Sharnelle Vella (@SharnelleVella) September 5, 2022

But Mr Andrews hit back at these assertions as well, saying “it might suit the narrative, but it's just wrong”.

“It‘s very interesting this. We’re in Melbourne … every day in September is about football,” he said,

“If it had been released on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday of this week, then you would be putting it to me that it had been sat on for a period of time.

“So you run your commentary, you run your narrative, work out whatever theories you want to advance, but please don't ask me to validate them when they’re just not right. They just aren’t.”

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said the government did not use the cover of a major AFL final to bury the report. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui

Mr Andrews apologised to those who had been impacted by the triple-0 at the beginning of his press conference.

“I offer my deepest condolences and sympathies and my personal apology and the apology of the government more broadly to anybody who has been touched by this virus and particularly those who have lost a loved one,” he said.

“You can’t imagine the pain and the great burden that those families carry with them every single day.

“We extend those condolences and that apology with a sense of commitment not only to those individuals but a commitment to every single Victorian to make the change to make the improvements, the investments, that’s what we are doing now.”

Mr Pearce identified 40 “potential adverse events” in his report where seriously ill and injured patients had to wait for an ambulance while their triple-0 calls were delayed. From those incidents, 33 people died.

“This does not necessarily mean that call answer delay was a contributing factor because in some cases no amount of rapid intervention would have saved the patient,” Mr Pearce said.

Victorian Emergency Management Inspector-General Tony Pearce’s report was damning. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

“It's not possible for me to conclude as to whether or not the call answer delay impacted upon the final outcome for those individuals. Only the coroner can do that.

“What it does mean is that due to these call answer delays, the community waited longer to receive important first-aid advice, and paramedics had less time to apply advanced treatment in time to make a difference to the patient’s outcome.”

The report also mentioned an incident in January when it took 76 minutes for a triple-0 call to be answered.

Victorian Opposition Leader Matthew Guy previously said the Premier could not hide and called on him to answer questions over the way his government had handled the situation.

“I think the Premier needs to front up. The Premier can’t just pretend this is a PR issue and not turn up and not answer questions,” he said on Sunday.

“There is no amount of hiding or obfuscating or trying to get around this, the Premier’s got to explain what’s happened here.”

Victorian Liberal Opposition Leader Matthew Guy accused Daniel Andrews of hiding. Picture NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie

Originally published as Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews hits back at the media over triple-0 report accusations