Inquiry into Victoria’s failed hotel quarantine must hold people to account, writes Shannon Deery
Thousands of new cases, more deaths, and a second lockdown have all been caused by Victoria’s disastrous hotel quarantine. The inquiry into the chaos must provide answers and hold those responsible to account, writes Shannon Deery.
Opinion
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The inquiry into Victoria’s hotel quarantine debacle should mean answers for us all.
It gets under way on Monday, just shy of three weeks after being announced by Premier Daniel Andrews.
In that time, the government has used the inquiry as a shield to answer any questions over its bungled quarantine operation.
The notion that answering basic, factual, questions could prejudice an inquiry of this sort is simply absurd.
The Premier and his ministers have dubbed the inquiry a fact-finding mission. But they already know many of the facts surrounding the shambolic quarantine program, but have chosen to keep them secret.
What Victorians do know is that because of the program, the state was hit by a deadly second wave that has made us the COVID-19 capital of the country.
So severe is the crisis, Victorians have also been effectively cut off from the rest of Australia.
Thousands of new cases, more deaths, and a second lockdown all caused by a strategy that strayed from a national position.
That’s not an opinion. The claim is backed by genomic sequencing data that Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton has conceded could link every single case of our second wave to hotels such as the Stamford Plaza.
There are many questions that need to be answered.
When did the Premier first become aware of problems with the quarantine program, and what did he do?
What was done about concerns raised by senior bureaucrats less than 24 hours after the program launched?
Why were Australian Defence Force personnel not used to patrol hotels?
How were the security firms chosen in the absence of a formal tender process? Was it a case of jobs for mates for Labor-affiliated union members?
What training were security guards given?
Justice Jennifer Coate, who is heading the inquiry, has already started her work. But it’s the first public hearing that will start on July 20, with opening statements by Justice Coate and senior counsel assisting, Tony Neal QC.
Justice Coate was one of six royal commissioners appointed to lead the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and has served on the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria, the Coroners Court of Victoria, the Federal Court and as president of the Children’s Court of Victoria.
Yet stellar credentials such as those may not be enough to guarantee success from this $3 million inquiry.
Concerns have been raised about the scope and powers of the inquiry, specifically its ability to compel ministers to attend.
While the inquiry, like a royal commission, can compel witnesses to attend, it remains unclear whether ministers will be called.
But unlike a royal commission, witnesses can refuse to answer questions based on a fear of self-incrimination.
So even if ministers are called, there’s every chance they could refuse to fully co-operate.
But any attempt to dodge answering questions by the Premier or his key ministers would be to hold Victorians in contempt.
The inquiry, unlike the hotel quarantine program to date, must be a wholly transparent process.
But who turns up and what they say is just one of several concerns.
Will Justice Coate be hindered by the terms of reference? Terms of reference put in place by the government at the centre of the inquiry.
The Premier has made much of this inquiry being “arm’s length” from the government. Hardly.
Under the terms of reference, the decisions and communications between government agencies, hotel operators and private contractors are set to be probed.
However, specific decisions of a policy nature — as opposed to its implementation by an agency — could be beyond the scope.
Mr Andrews has insisted Justice Coate would not be inhibited in any way and would be free to run the inquiry as she deemed necessary. Let’s hope so.
Until now the Premier has refused to explain the decision-making behind the program, while senior ministers have ducked for cover while attempting to distance themselves from the fiasco.
The program has driven a wedge through the government.
We have repeatedly been told “we are all in this together”. How then can a divided government see us through to the other side?
This virus has got away from us.
The inquiry won’t help Victoria regain control. But it will provide much-needed answers on what went wrong.
And it should hold those responsible to account.
SHANNON DEERY IS HERALD SUN STATE POLITICS EDITOR