Daniel Andrews issues ‘unreserved apology’ for hotel quarantine failures
After an intense 2.5-hour grilling in the hotel quarantine inquiry, Daniel Andrews couldn’t provide many answers, but he did issue an “unreserved apology”.
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Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews issued an “unreserved apology” to all Victorians at the close of his 2.5-hour grilling at the hotel quarantine inquiry.
“Mistakes have been made in this program. And answers are required,” he said just before he was excused from giving evidence at 4.45pm.
“Those mistakes are unacceptable to me. I want to thank you, Madam Chair, and the board of inquiry and all your staff for the work you are doing and will do.
“I want to make it very clear to each and every member of the Victorian community that I am sorry for what has occurred here. And I want to issue an unreserved apology to all Victorians.
“I await the final report, the conclusion of your work, so we can understand better what has occurred, and so that I, as leader of the government, can take the appropriate action to ensure that these sorts of errors never occur again.”
ANDREWS’ FULL WITNESS STATEMENT
PREMIER’S BOMBSHELL ADMISSION ON HOTELS
Mr Andrews has admitted he doesn’t know who made the decision to contract private security to guard returned travellers in hotel quarantine.
He made the spectacular admission as he gave evidence to the hotel quarantine inquiry on Friday afternoon.
Mr Andrews was asked “Who made the decision to engage private security contractors in the Hotel Quarantine Program?”
“I do not know who made that decision,” he wrote in his witness statement.
At 3pm on March 27, as he announced the quarantine program to Victorians, Mr Andrews said “Police, private security, all of our health team will be able to monitor compliance in a much easier way.”
He told the inquiry he would not have thought about who was going to enforce hotel quarantine at that early stage.
“I have given this quite some thought ... I‘m not certain why I mentioned police, private security and our health team,” he said.
Mr Andrews said that after National Cabinet determined to introduce hotel quarantine, he expected a mix of personnel would play a role in the program, including Victoria Police.
“But the way in which that decision was to be implemented, including the mix of personnel that would be engaged and their respective roles, was an operational matter,” he said.
“That is similarly so in the management of other disasters. For example, I have no role in determining the mix of staff and allocation of tasks during a catastrophic bushfire event.”
Asked if he supporting using private security going forward, Mr Andrews said: “My view as to the engagement of private security contractors in any future iteration of a mandatory hotel quarantine program will be guided by this Board of Inquiry’s findings and recommendations.”
‘VICTORIANS DESERVE ANSWERS’: FRYDENBERG
After Mr Andrews finished giving evidence, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told the Herald Sun “Victorians deserve answers.”
He added in a statement: “No one seems to be able to tell Victorians who made the decision to engage private security contractors in the hotel quarantine program.
“The failings in the program had deadly consequences resulting in Victoria’s second wave and millions being subject to curfews, locked in their homes 23 hours a day. I like so many Victorians am waiting for answers.”
PROGRAM ‘CLEARLY A FAILURE’, ANDREWS ADMITS
Asked what “mistakes” in the program he referred to public comments, Mr Andrews said “I am referring to the fact this was a program designed to stop this wildly infectious virus seeding from returned travellers into the community.”
“That has clearly happened and that is clearly a failure and that is clearly the product of at least one error and perhaps multiple errors.”
He told counsel assisting Rachel Ellyard he is waiting for the inquiry to tell him what went wrong in hotel quarantine, and doesn’t have his own view.
“You have looked through 200,000 pages of different documents and heard from many, many witnesses. I am not in a position to do that sort of work so that is why we set this process up.”
ACCOUNTABILITY WOES
Mr Andrews said it would be “disappointing” if it transpired the decision to use private security was made by a collective of people who did not understand they were part of that collective.
It would be even more concerning, he said, if no decision had been made at all and the use of private security was instead a “creeping assumption” that had formed among a group.
Mr Andrews agreed he was concerned that Health Minister Jenny Mikakos and department secretary Kym Peake did not seem to view themselves as being accountable for the program in the same way he did.
Ms Mikakos told the inquiry earlier this week the quarantine program was “a multi-agency response with shared responsibility”.
“There shouldn’t be any degree of confusion about this, should there?” Ms Ellyard asked Mr Andrews.
“There should be none,” he said.
DEPARTMENTAL BRAWL ‘UNUSUAL’
Ms Ellyard said it was unusual to have an inquiry in which various government departments represented themselves and cross-examined representatives from other departments.
It pointed to inter-agency confusion, she put to Mr Andrews.
“I think it could be read to mean that, yes,” he said. “Whether it is accurate or not I cannot speak to that.”
He said the lack of agreement between agencies and department was “not desirable in any way”.
ANDREWS NEVER SAW BOMBSHELL ADF EMAIL
Mr Andrews says he did not see an email sent to his top public servant Chris Eccles offering Australian Defence Force help in hotel quarantine until he was preparing to give evidence at the quarantine inquiry.
In the bombshell email sent on April 8 secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet Phil Gaetjens wrote to his state counterpart Mr Eccles saying the Commonwealth would be “willing to assist Victoria in a similar way” to NSW with ADF personnel if Victoria wanted to reconsider its quarantine system.
On Monday Mr Eccles was asked if he had passed it on to Mr Andrews. “I’m not saying that I didn’t. I’m saying that I’m not aware that I did or I didn’t,” he said.
Mr Andrews said he was not aware of the email nor of a phone conversation between the two.
He said it would have been “very significant” information as it was “so at odds” with his understanding from a National Cabinet meeting.
“Leaving the National Cabinet meeting, I had absolutely no expectation whatsoever that in the establishment and the running of hotel quarantine there would be significant extensive ADF support,” he said.
The case was made for NSW but not other states, he said.
“Would you have ordinarily have expected that the availability of a resource of this kind from the ADF would have been drawn to your attention?” Ms Ellyard said.
“Ah, yes.”
INFECTION CONTROL TOO IMPORTANT FOR PRIVATE COMPANIES
Mr Andrews agreed a “substantial risk” came from outsourcing PPE and infection control training to private contractors.
“Would you agree with me that these issues of infection control were too important to be left entirely to private contractors?” asked Ms Ellyard.
“I think I can agree with that statement,” Mr Andrews said.
“Given what is at stake, given the seriousness and the infectivity of this virus, Ms Ellyard, I think that‘s a fair statement, yes.”
He went on to agree it would be a matter of “great concern” if the Victorian government had not actively ensured proper infection control measures were in place.
HEAT ON MIKAKOS
Victoria‘s Health Minister Jenny Mikakos is facing fresh scrutiny after the Premier told the hotel quarantine inquiry she was “primarily responsible” for the bungled program.
The explosive evidence puts more pressure onto Ms Mikakos who at Thursday‘s inquiry hearing revealed she was unaware private security was being used until two months after the program began.
She also said she was not consulted about the structure or operation plan of hotel quarantine, despite the Premier regarding Minister Mikakos “as accountable for the Program”.
Mr Andrews said in his witness statement the quarantine program started “as a multiagency operation, overseen and co-ordinated by the State Control Centre (SCC),” he said.
“The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), as the designated control agency, was primarily responsible for the Program. I understood, at the start of the Program, that the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions (DJPR) would be responsible for aspects of procurement and logistics.”
He confirmed the Crisis Council of Cabinet (CCC) then approved the transfer of accountability of the program from Minister Mikakos to the Attorney-General on July 8.
ABOUT HEALTH, NOT ECONOMICS
Mr Andrews has strongly denied that the economic benefits of hotel quarantine — using hotel rooms, creating jobs — were a driving force in the decision to embark on the program instead of mandatory self-isolation at home.
He was asked about a document from the Victorian Crisis Council of Cabinet that listed objectives of the program as protecting public health and supporting the tourism and accommodation industries.
Asked if he agreed the economic benefits were an “important feature” of the program, Mr Andrews said he would “always see them as secondary to the public health objective”.
“You wouldn’t say they were of equal weight?” asked Ms Ellyard.
“No Ms Ellyard, far from equal,” he replied.
NOT AWARE OF ASHTON TEXTS
Mr Andrews said he was not aware of anything that would have led then Chief Commissioner of Police Graham Ashton to text AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw saying private security would be used in the Victorian quarantine program.
Texts previously tendered to the inquiry show Mr Ashton texted “Mate. My advise (sic) is the ADF do passenger transfer and private security will be used” in the early afternoon of March 27.
“OK that’s new,” Mr Kershaw replied.
“I think that’s the deal set up by our DPC (Department of Premier and Cabinet). I understand NSW will be a different arrangement,” Mr Ashton said, adding that he had spoken to NSW Police commissioner Mick Fuller.
Mr Andrews said it would be “unusual, unprecedented” for such a decision to be taken without consulting Ashton.
ANDREWS AWARE OF ADF SUPPORT
When questioned about whether he understood Australian Defence Force personnel were on offer to assist in the hotel quarantine program, Daniel Andrews acknowledged he was “generally aware” before the National Cabinet meeting on March 27 the State Co-ordinating Council (SCC) was receiving ADF support.
“After the National Cabinet meeting on 27 March 2020, I understood that any ADF support for any State or Territory’s implementation of the mandatory self-quarantine decision would be provided where necessary and according to need,” he said.
“I understood that New South Wales was seen as having the greater need at that time. I did not understand, on the basis of the meeting, that Victoria would be receiving extensive ADF support in its implementation of the decision.
“I heard the Prime Minister’s comments in his press conference on the afternoon of 27 March 2020. Those comments advanced a more generous position regarding the allocation of ADF personnel than had earlier been indicated. Later, in my press conference, I acknowledged that gesture, but I did not see that it necessarily changed what had been settled in National Cabinet.
“I was not aware of any other offer of ADF personnel for the operation of the Program at its inception.
“As to the way in which the National Cabinet decision was implemented, including whether those directly involved in the design and delivery of the Program would actually seek the provision of ADF support, and the form of any support sought — I considered those to be operational decisions and I did not turn my mind to those questions. I certainly had no expectation that the ADF would have any extensive involvement at that time.”
I AM ACCOUNTABLE: ANDREWS
Mr Andrews acknowledged he is “ultimately accountable” for the state government‘s botched hotel quarantine program.
In his witness statement, the Premier acknowledged Health Minister Jenny Mikakos and Jobs Minister Martin Pakula was responsible for informing Cabinet about the “initial overall service model and costings” for hotel quarantine.
“They did so at the CCC (Council of cabinet) meeting on 8 April 2020. I then regarded Minister Mikakos as accountable for the Program. The CCC was provided with regular reports by Minister Mikakos containing data relevant to Victoria’s response to the public health emergency, key insights from the data, as well as other updates, including in relation to the Program,” he said.
“From 8 July 2020, I regarded the Attorney-General as accountable for the Program.
“However, as Premier and chair of the CCC, I regard myself as being ultimately accountable for the Victorian Government and any decisions made about the structure and operation of the Program.”
UNPRECEDENTED CIRCUMSTANCES
Mr Andrews agreed that the hotel quarantine program was a complex operation that needed to be set up in 36 hours.
“I think it could be fairly described as an unprecedented set of circumstances,” he said.
Asked how he was satisfied that it could be done, he said: “Having confidence that the rooms could be secured it seemed to me that a dedicated team of people at that operational level would be able to do as they had done many times before, they could rise to a challenge like this, and they would be able to stand the system up within the time frame.”
ANDREWS APPEARS
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is now before the inquiry and has taken the oath.
He is being represented by Melbourne silk Stephen O’Meara QC assisted by Kathleen Foley and Olaf Ciolek.
Mr Andrews confirmed to counsel assisting Rachel Ellyard that he was aware of instances where returned travellers did not comply with the 14-day quarantine period prior to the announcement of the hotel quarantine on March 27.
DAN DODGES QUESTIONS AT PRESSER
All eyes will be on Premier Daniel Andrews when he gives evidence at Melbourne’s hotel quarantine inquiry hearing at 2.15pm on Friday.
Mr Andrews was challenged about the system’s failures hours before he fronted the inquiry into the state’s botched program.
The Premier dodged more than a dozen questions on hotel quarantine at Friday morning’s COVID-19 press conference, continuously claiming he could “not speak to a report that had not been written yet”.
“I am not going to presuppose what questions I might be asked,” he said.
While Mr Andrews was firm on not being able to anticipate what questions were going to be asked, he also rebuffed questions about evidence given at past hearings.
“I understand where the question comes from and I don’t want to be in any way difficult,” he responded when asked about whether it was acceptable Health Minister Jenny Mikakos wasn’t briefed on the hotel quarantine scheme.
“Out of respect for the process that I am actually part of, I will be appearing this afternoon and I just don’t think it is appropriate for me to be commenting on evidence that is being led or anticipating an anyway questions that might be asked,” the Premier said.
“My fundamental obligation is to answer the questions that are put to me today as directly, factually, accurately, honestly as they can and that is what they intend to do.”
A reporter then pressed, saying they were not asking Mr Andrews to “suppose anything”, going on to ask: “Jenny Mikakos and Kim Pack have said it was a shared responsibility, shared accountability and they weren‘t the lead agency. But your government’s own pandemic plans have identified them as lead agencies. I am asking you why those pandemic plans weren’t followed from the beginning?”
But again the Premier rebuffed: “Again, you are presupposing that they weren‘t followed. You are asking me to comment.”
Pressure has been mounting on the Premier to provide answers to crucial questions for weeks about who was in charge of the program and who rejected Australian Defence Force support.
A string of government ministers and senior bureaucrats have so far claimed ignorance on the failures in the hotel quarantine program, believed to have been the cause of Victoria’s devastating second wave of COVID-19.
At Thursday’s hearing, Health Minister Jenny Mikakos revealed she was unaware private security was being used in Melbourne’s hotel quarantine program until two months after the program began.
Findings from the inquiry are expected to be laid bare in early November.