Lawyers challenging Melbourne’s curfew win fight to release secret government data
Secret data used to justify Melbourne’s controversial curfew must be handed over to lawyers challenging the restriction measure, a court has ruled. But the whole picture may not be released.
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SECRET government data relied on to extend Melbourne’s curfew must be handed over to lawyers challenging the lockdown measure, the Supreme Court has ruled.
The curfew is being challenged in the Supreme Court where government lawyers claimed public interest immunity over the data.
But Justice Tim Ginnane said on Friday it was appropriate at least a sample of it to be released.
Conceding concerns about possible privacy infringements, and time constraints about redacting almost 2000 pages of documents, Justice Ginnane said only portions of the data need be released.
Deputy Public Health Commander Michelle Giles, who imposed the extension of the curfew on September 13, has told the court it was a necessary measure.
The court heard DHHS advised Prof Giles there was a chance the curfew breached human rights.
“It is the department’s view that these directions are, on balance, likely to be compatible with human rights … however there is some risk of incompatibility,” legal advice warned.
Prof Giles has told the court she relied on government data that proved “a clear and direct correlation” between stage 4 restrictions and a reduction in case numbers.
She said that data was contained in two daily emails she received: a daily Outbreak Summaries Report and a separate COVID-19 Intelligence Report.
Justice Ginnane said it was reasonable that material should be disclosed.
The court has been told the Outbreak Summaries Report contained details about all new outbreaks and complex cases.
The intelligence report, prepared by an experts inside the Department of Health and Human Services, contained statistics on the number of confirmed cases and number of cases with no known source.
The report also detailed whether new cases were linked to outbreaks, how many of those cases are under investigation, and demographic details such as age.
“The two daily documents that I have described above are the ones that contain the primary data that I was referring to,” Prof Giles said.
Lawyers representing Michelle Loielo, a Liberal Party member challenging the curfew, have sought leave to cross examine Prof Giles next week.
But they failed in a bid to force any cross examination to be done in person, instead of via videolink.
They argued that her credibility was in issue, and wanted assurance that she wasn’t being coached or assisted in any way while giving evidence.
Justice Ginnane said there were well established practices used throughout the pandemic to ensure the integrity of court evidence given remotely.
Victoria’s curfew was put in place on August 2 to run from 8pm to 5am.
From September 13 it was loosened by Prof Giles to 9pm to 5am and was due to expire on October 11.
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