Daniel Andrews to appear before hotel quarantine inquiry
Premier Daniel Andrews has confirmed he will appear before the hotel quarantine inquiry, to give “context” on how the program was created. It comes as the board seeks to find out who decided to use private security guards as the “first line of security’’ at the hotels.
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Premier Daniel Andrews will appear before the hotel quarantine inquiry, and says he will “provide context’’ on how the program was formed.
The Herald Sun can reveal Mr Andrews has been called to attend the inquiry, chaired by retired judge Jennifer Coate, on September 23.
“I established the Board of Inquiry into the Hotel Quarantine Program to find the answers that all Victorian are entitled to,’’ Mr Andrews said.
“Given the program was established as a decision of National Cabinet I always anticipated that I would need to appear in order to provide the context for its beginnings.
“I can confirm I have been asked to appear on Wednesday 23 September and I look forward to assisting the Inquiry in its important work.’’
It is also expected Victoria’s most powerful bureaucrat, Department of Premier and Cabinet secretary Chris Eccles, will appear in the final week of the inquiry, along with Department of Health and Human Services secretary Kym Peake.
Counsel assisting the inquiry Tony Neal has previously said he wanted to focus on those who made the decisions, rather than those who implemented the decisions.
The inquiry will this week hear from senior officials involved in the emergency management response, as the board seeks to find out who decided to use private security guards instead of law enforcement or ADF to guard the quarantine hotels.
The thousands of mainly sub-contracted security guards, many of whom were poorly-paid, and some of who were poorly-trained and ill-disciplined, were involved in a number of infection control breaches, and 29 of them eventually caught COVID-19 from quarantine guests, and spread it to their family and friends.
This seeded Victoria’s deadly second wave, which has so far killed more than 700 people.
Several witnesses have told the inquiry it was the “preference’’ of Victoria Police– and specifically former Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton — to use private firms as the “first line of security’’ at the hotels.
Mr Ashton will appear before the board on Thursday to answer questions about this, as will his replacement, current Chief Commissioner Shane Patton.
Emergency management Commissioner Andrew Crisp, whose was involved in discussions with the Australian Defence Force, will also appear, as Ms Coate seeks to determine why he ADF was not used to provide security, as it was in Queensland and New South Wales.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton and Deputy CHO Annaliese van Diemen will also appear this week.
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Originally published as Daniel Andrews to appear before hotel quarantine inquiry