Video puts Jenny Mikakos’ hotel guards claims under question
Premier Daniel Andrews has admitted there were failings in the state’s hotel quarantine program and has apologised to all Victorians. It comes as Jenny Mikakos’ claim she did not know about the use of private security have been contradicted in an explosive video. WATCH THE VIDEO
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Premier Daniel Andrews has admitted there were failings in the state’s hotel quarantine program and has made an unreserved apology to all Victorians.
“Mistakes have been made in this program. And answers are required,” he said just before he was excused from giving evidence at the hotel quarantine inquiry 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.”
Earlier, the Premier admitted he didn’t know who made the decision to contract private security to guard returned travellers in hotel quarantine.
The spectacular admission is contained in his witness statement to the hotel quarantine inquiry on Friday.
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,” Mr Andrews wrote in his witness statement.
He wrote it was an “operational matter”.
SHOCK VIDEO CONTRADICTS MIKAKOS’ HOTEL GUARDS CLAIM
Health Minister Jenny Mikakos’ claim that she did not know about the use of private security in hotel quarantine have been contradicted, with footage emerging of a press conference she attended in March in which the topic was covered.
Ms Mikakos is now facing accusations she has misled the inquiry in the botched program.
On Thursday, she told the inquiry she first became aware of the decision to use private security contractors in late May after an outbreak was reported at Rydges on Swanston outbreak.
But a video of a March 29 press conference shows the Health Minister fronting the media with Trade Minister Martin Pakula as he confirmed contractors would be used.
“All of those passengers returning will now undergo mandatory two-week quarantine at those Melbourne hotels with security guards in place,” Mr Pakula said at the time.
Ms Mikakos has rejected claims that her comments were misleading and is now expected to clarify them.
“The Minister categorically denies that she has misled the Board in any way and has sought leave to provide information to the Board to that effect,” a government spokeswoman said.
Ms Mikakos’ statement also appears to be challenged by briefing notes from the Premier’s office delivered to Labor MPs in April which also mention the use of private security.
When asked how the Health Minister’s comments could be possible given these inconsistencies, Mr Andrews on Friday said that was for the inquiry to determine.
“What people knew, what they did and the degree to which that was right, wrong or indifferent, that is a matter that the board is actively examining today and every day until they produce a report,” he said.
“I cannot and I will not pretend to be the chair of the inquiry. That is not why it was set up.”
DAILY CASE NUMBERS DIP
Victoria has recorded 14 new cases and another eight deaths.
Metropolitan Melbourne’s 14-day average has dropped to 25.1 and regional Victoria has fallen to 0.8.
There have been 34 cases with an unknown source in Melbourne over the past 14 days, while regional Victoria has not recorded a case over the same time period.
Among the 14 cases recorded on Friday, nine are linked to known outbreaks and five are under investigation.
There are 482 active cases across the state, the first time this figure has dropped below 500 in months.
This includes 77 in healthcare workers, 247 linked to aged care and four in disability settings.
The eight deaths overnight have all been linked to aged care, taking the toll to 619.
There are 58 people fighting coronavirus in hospital, including eight in ICU and eight on a ventilator.
Public health officials have recorded four additional cases in the City of Dandenong and one in Casey but it is not yet clear these are linked to the Hallam outbreak.
Ten of the 12 new cases are in Melbourne.
Premier Daniel Andrews said two new cases have been linked to regional Victorian postcodes, but the virus was acquired in Melbourne and the positive cases hadn’t returned to the regions.
Labs processed 12,460 test results in the past 24 hours.
DAN STANDS BY MINISTERS
Premier Daniel Andrews has stood by his ministers in face of mounting criticism over their handling of the hotel quarantine scandal.
It comes after Police Minister Lisa Neville, Health Minister Jenny Mikakos and Trade Minister Martin Pakula all claimed not to know who made the decision to use private security as they fronted the probe into the plagued program.
When asked on Friday whether he still had faith in his team following their evidence, Mr Andrews said he did.
“That is why they are ministers,” he said.
“Because I have confidence in them and if that at any point changes, that changes.”
When pressed on whether he had confidence in Ms Mikakos after she said she did not know about the use of private security until an outbreak had occurred, Mr Andrews would not be drawn.
“It is not for me to be drawing conclusions or making findings on evidence that has been led,” he said.
“That is why the inquiry was set up.”
“There will be a day when you can ask me what I think about all of these matters and what I am going to do.
“But we have to have those matters settled first.
“I can’t speak to a report that hasn’t been written yet.”
STEP THREE COULD BE TRIGGERED EARLY
Melburnians have been given a glimmer of hope ahead of Sunday’s announcement with the Premier hinting step three might be triggered early.
Daniel Andrews again reiterated Sunday’s announcement would include safe and smart steps out of lockdown, but he acknowledged Melbourne was ahead of schedule.
“I do hope to be able to talk a little bit more about how I think October will unfold and maybe give people some clarity around, because we are ahead of schedule, what might be possible. Again, always subject to the case numbers,” he said.
“What might be possible in the next month, as we move towards that next trigger point. That may be able to occur sooner, but I will be in a better position to speak to that in some detail on Sunday.”
VCAL STUDENTS GIVEN SPECIAL CONSIDERATION
Education Minister James Merlino announced new support for VCAL and VET students.
More than 10,000 students in their final year of schooling will be able to access special consideration for their certificates.
School closures, long absences, mental health challenges and extra responsibilities are among the things that will be considered.
Students who do not complete their VET qualifications in 2020 as they intended will be guaranteed enrolment at a TAFE or similar provider and have their 2021 VET fees waived.
A $4.6 million boost will cover extra costs for Year 12 students to catch up in Term 4 and to cover new costs outside their schools current budget.
DOZENS OF CURFEW BREAKERS CAUGHT
Police issued 104 fines to rulebreakers for breaching lockdown restrictions in the past 24 hours.
Nearly half of the fines were for breaking curfew, with 51 people slapped with a penalty notice for not being at home between 9pm and 5am.
A further 14 fines were handed out for not wearing a face mask, while eight were issued at checkpoints.
Included in the latest batch of offenders is a man who was cycling home from a friends house outside after curfew hours in the Greater Dandenong area and five people from different addresses travelling in a car in Wyndham.
Watch Dan be quizzed at the hotel quarantine inquiry. See the video stream here from 2.15pm followed by analysis, how he answered the big questions and full coverage in the Saturday Herald Sun.
DUTTON SAYS MIKAKOS ‘NEEDS TO GO’
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has joined a push for Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos to resign.
The state’s leading health union boss this week accused Ms Mikakos of “breathtaking incompetence” and demanded Daniel Andrews sack her prior to her appearance at the hotel quarantine inquiry.
Mr Dutton on Friday said Ms Mikakos “does need to go”.
“If this wasn’t so serious, and the consequences so dire, it would be funny,” Mr Dutton told Today.
“The Daniel Andrews Government response to this inquiry is like a scene out of Monty Python.
“Nobody knows what’s going on. It’s comical, and yet it’s such a terrible outcome that they’ve presided over, where people literally have died, and Victoria is in a state of lockdown.”
Mr Dutton said when the health minister says she has no idea what’s going on in the health system she presides over, there was “a big problem”.
- Anthony Piovesan, Jade Gailberger
BIG SPENDING TO CLAW OUT OF RECESSION
Australia will spend its way out of the COVID-19 recession for years, with Josh Frydenberg vowing harsh calls to rein in skyrocketing debt and deficit levels will not be made until unemployment falls well below 6 per cent.
The Treasurer on Thursday dumped the government’s budget repair strategy, saying the economy would shrink by 6 per cent during the pandemic and remain “persistently smaller” in the years ahead.
Ahead of the October 6 budget, Mr Frydenberg gave his strongest hint yet on new tax incentives to encourage employers to hire more workers and increase investment.
The unemployment rate surprisingly fell this month to 6.8 per cent, but is expected to rise again and peak at almost 10 per cent, and the government has been warned it could take five years to recover.
In a major speech, Mr Frydenberg said it would be “damaging to the economy and unrealistic” to pursue budget surpluses now, given that would require increasing taxes and slashing spending on essential services.
“Our first priority must be to secure a strong and sustained economic recovery and drive the unemployment rate down as fast as possible,” he said.
“It is getting Australians back to work and having profitable businesses hiring and investing that offers the greatest leverage in repairing the budget.”
Mr Frydenberg said once the government was “confident the recovery has taken hold”, it would move to the second phase of its new fiscal strategy.
Temporary economic support measures would be wound back to stabilise debt levels, but he promised the government would keep taxes low, retaining the 23.9 per cent cap on the tax-to-GDP ratio.
This year’s budget surplus is tipped to soar above $200bn while the nation’s debt climbs to at least $850bn. The Treasurer said with historically low interest rates, debt levels were “sustainable” and “significantly lower” than most comparable countries.
“Growing our economy faster will enable us to repair the budget and pay down debt over time,” he said.
“This will allow us to rebuild the fiscal buffers that allowed us to respond so decisively during the COVID-19 pandemic. And that is what we owe to future generations.”
Describing the COVID-19 crisis as “the greatest economic shock” in more than a century, Mr Frydenberg said the government was focused on preventing long-term “scarring”, with about 60 per cent of people who lost jobs already managing to get back into work.
But even with $106bn in economic aid delivered in five months, Mr Frydenberg said the economy would remain smaller and generate less income for the government.
He warned Australians were unlikely to see substantial pay rises “for at least the next few years”.
FOUR HOSPITAL WARDS TO REMAIN CLOSED
The Royal Melbourne Hospital will keep four wards closed for the long-term as part of its pandemic response.
An outbreak at the Royal Park Campus in early August prompted the hospital to shut four wards in a bid to slow the spread among staff and patients.
It’s now expected the closure will stay in place for about 12 months as the hospital considers whether it needs to redesign the wards.
In a statement, the hospital said “the current facilities and building design makes it difficult to implement effective ‘COVID safe’ infection prevention measures.”
“As such the four wards currently vacant at Royal Park Campus will not be reopened
in the current circumstances. During this time we will explore building options as well
as new ways of providing care and investing further in our RMH@Home hospital in
the home program, as well as opening a new Acute Aged Care Ward at the RMH
City Campus and exploring other options.”
The hospital said there would be no jobs lost as a result of the closure and the changes would not impact the care provided to patients.
After multiple weeks of spiralling COVID-19 infections, the Royal Park Campus was now coronavirus-free, the hospital said on Wednesday.
- Josh Fagan
DAN DASHES OPENING HOPES AS NEW NUMBERS ROLL IN
Victorians are being told to not get their hopes up for any major easing of restrictions on Sunday, with the government saying no “massive” changes are planned.
Despite the city’s 14-day average dipping to 26.7 cases on Thursday — below the 30-50 range required to move to the next step on September 28 — Daniel Andrews flagged only some easing beyond the current road map.
But the Premier cautioned: “Sunday will not be a day of massive steps … it is not a day when we essentially throw the doors open.
“It will be … steady and safe steps, and that sense of gradual, continual progress is what we are able to do because we have a gradual and continued decline in these numbers.
“The strategy is working, we are well on track to make some further announcements.”
It is understood the new announcements will affect some businesses — including real estate — and allow people more personal freedom, but Mr Andrews would not say whether the curfew would be lifted.
Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien said “the curfew should go now” and the state move to COVID-normal.
“No one’s calling for open slather and every restriction to be abolished but … there is a way to open things up,” he said.
“Get things done sooner and safer and get Victoria back to work.”
Under the current plan, changes on September 28 will include childcare reopening, a staged return to classrooms and gathering of up to five people outside the home. A move to step two in metro Melbourne would also allow more than 100,000 people to return to work.
But which business will be given the green light is not clear.
Josh Frydenberg on Thursday again urged Mr Andrews to speed up Melbourne’s exit from the stage four lockdown.
The Treasurer said it was a “tragedy” kids had lost almost a year of face-to-face learning and small businesses needed to safely open doors as soon as possible to save jobs.
“To be out of the classroom as a result of COVID and these very strict restrictions has been very difficult,” he said. “Losing that ability to engage with your friends on a daily basis and to learn directly with the teacher as opposed to online is tough.”
Victoria recorded 12 new cases and two deaths, taking the total toll to 773. Among new infections were two cases in Brimbank and Moonee Valley, and single cases in Casey, Hume, Melton, Monash and Wyndham.
RELIEF FOR HUNGRY AS LOCKDOWN BITES
The Victorian government has boosted food relief funding by $11.3m amid concerns the pandemic will leave more people, including children, struggling to access meals in the future.
Ageing and Carers Luke Donnellan announced the new funds for vulnerable Victorians. A new $5m community food relief fund will provide one-off grants of up to $75,000 to support local community organisations supplying food in metropolitan areas.
Regional hubs will receive $3.5m to ensure those rurally will receive the food they need. “Every Victorian should have access to food and essential items,” Mr Donnellan said.
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