Opposition asks what Andrews has to hide over playground ban

The government has been accused of a cover-up over its controversial playground ban as it fights to keep advice used to justify the closure secret.

The Health Department is resisting the release of the public health ­advice used to justify banning kids from public playgrounds.

Playgrounds, skate parks and basketball courts across the state werecontroversially shutin August during the state’s sixth lockdown, amid unsubstantiated claims of a suspected case of outdoor Covid transmission.

Chief health officer Professor Brett Sutton later ­admitted the ban, which was widely opposed, was actually introduced to stop households, particularly parents, gathering outdoors.

The state opposition is using Freedom of Information laws to fight to uncover the health advice relied on to implement the ban.

Playgrounds, skate parks and basketball courts across the state were controversially closed during the state’s sixth lockdown. Picture: Getty Images

The department has refused to release any material since an initial request was lodged in September, prompting a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal battle.

Leader of the Opposition in the upper house David Davis said the Premier should “release these documents today instead of fighting and covering up through endless legal manoeuvres”.

“Daniel Andrews slammed shut playgrounds across Melbourne, taping them up like a crime scene,” he said.

“No plausible evidence was or has been advanced as to why Melbourne’s children should have been denied ­access to physical exercise and playground activity.”

On Monday, VCAT deputy president Heather Lambrick sought to fast-track the matter, refusing an application to ­extend the time in which the request must be dealt with.

Mr Davis questioned what the government had to hide, saying Victorians deserved to understand the basis for the controversial ban.

“The Premier has never once released the formal written briefs behind any of his draconian public health orders, instead he has blocked release of the ‘health advice’,” he said.

“Surely Victorians are entitled to know the reasons in full for the closure of playgrounds.”

It comes as the government continues to fight the release of secret briefing advice in ­relation to the state’s snap lockdown in February.

Victoria’s private watchdog has ­ordered the release of hundreds of pages of Health Department briefings, saying it is in the public interest.

Chief health officer Brett Sutton later admitted the ban was actually introduced to try to stop people across households gathering outdoors. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Joanne Kummrow, public access deputy commissioner at the Office of the Victorian ­Information Commissioner, said in her decision: “The documents describe the reasons for placing restrictions on the movements of members of the community … these decisions have a profound effect on the lives of Victorians.

“In these circumstances, members of the community have a right to access documents that describe the background information con­sidered, the reasons, the legal basis for, and documents that record those decisions.”

The government has ­appealed, arguing releasing the material would reveal “high-level deliberative processes of government” and risk jeopardising the trust between public officials and a minister.

A department spokesman said the playground closure came in response to a rapidly rising number of child cases, and maintained there were incidents of possible transmission “through children walking home from school together, at the skatepark and at the playground”.

“The decision to close playgrounds was to protect the broader community from further transmission and slow the spread of the virus,” he said.

Originally published as Opposition asks what Andrews has to hide over playground ban