Jeff Kennett: Is Daniel Andrews’ house of cards about to fall?
It is so often not the mismanagement of an issue that causes the most damage but the cover-up that follows. Maybe now the Victorian government’s response to its bungling of the hotel quarantine program will send Dan Andrews’ house of cards crashing down, writes Jeff Kennett.
Opinion
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Is the Victorian government, the Victorian ALP, and the federal ALP by association, about to fall apart like a house of cards?
Remember the game we played as children, building a tower or house using playing cards stacked one upon the other? Fragile to say the least.
Such is the position of the Victorian Labor government today.
The hubris of Premier Daniel Andrews can be traced back to its original election in 2014 with the operation of the red shirts, which the Premier denied any knowledge of the operation until four years later when the High Court of Australia found against the ALP and the ALP repaid part of the cost of their fraud of public funds.
Move forward to 2020 and it is now proven that the government’s mismanagement of the quarantine hotels led to more than 800 deaths, as well as the loss of businesses, employment and financial security for thousands of Victorians.
There has never been a bigger failure by any government in Victoria’s history that has rendered such tragic results.
The Premier established an inquiry, not to establish the truth of who was responsible for the gross mismanagement of hotel quarantine, but to hide behind and delay having to answer any questions relating to his ministerial colleagues’ individual and collective responsibility.
The Premier established a subcommittee to manage the Victorian response to the coronavirus. The ministers who were not part of this cabal are implicated because of their weak compliance to the Premier’s ruthless leadership.
All ministers and senior public servants who appeared before the inquiry when questioned gave a similar answer: “I do not know” or “I do not remember” This failure to honestly answer questions put to all individuals will come back to haunt them.
Never have all persons appearing before an inquiry of any standing given such a standard, uniform response. Never has an inquiry been so abused.
I can never remember those conducting an inquiry allowing such an abuse. Failing to pursue what are now and was then obvious questions. To simply allow those with responsibility and no memory to walk away.
The Premier and the Gang of Eight should now be referred to WorkCover to be held account for their gross failure to administer their responsibilities, which caused hundreds of deaths, economic loss for mental stress and anxiety for thousands.
The legislation under which this referral should be made was introduced by the Andrews government to hold to account anyone in the private sector whose maladministration led to serious incidents that might include injuries or death.
The Workplace Safety Legislation (Industrial Manslaughter and Other Matters) Bill 2019 (Vic) specifies that such accidents or incidents might be the result of works “commissioned” by a company or an officer of the company, or by “omission”.
It is quite clear the Gang of Eight failed on both counts, because they commissioned the management of the quarantine hotels and by omission because there was no oversight of the operation, which led to the devastating second wave of the virus. By “omission” because it appears no one was responsible and no one can remember anything.
Of course, there are many supplementary questions as to who authorised the use of security guards, in particular appointing a Sydney firm that did not apply for the work and was subsequently paid $28m.
But the Gang of Eight is clearly accountable by its own legislation. Can you imagine how the Premier will be railing against anyone in the private sector whose “commissions and or omissions” might have led to the death of one unionist, let alone, 20, 100, 500, or 800 deaths?
Therefore, all who appeared before the inquiry gave the same answer. They were so advised, to protect themselves against their own legislation.
The head of WorkCover, Colin Radford, is himself an ALP appointee and worked for the Bracks government. That does not concern me, because right now there are so many reputations on the line, I think he will do his duty. If not, there is ICAC where these matters can and should be elevated.
There is the very real possibility many ministers will be charged by their own legislation, which has not been tested yet because it only received royal assent earlier this year. So apart for the fatal ramifications of the botched hotel quarantine exercise, the issue that will potentially bring down this ALP government, many of its ministers and compliant public servants is the cover-up perpetrated on the people of Victoria, the inquiry and those who have suffered family deaths and loss of their business.
It is so often the case that it is not the crime or in this case the mismanagement of an issue that causes the most damage but the cover-up that followed.
Do not rule out some politicians losing their freedom as we have lost ours. For others, reputations will be in tatters and they will forever be unemployable.
So could the ALP house of cards be about to come crashing down? It certainly could. Jenny Mikakos, Andrew Crisp and now Chris Eccles.
What I am referring to might take time to complete. It would be better for all those involved to relocate their individual and collective lost memories, rather than face the train heading towards them.
Mikakos was treated appallingly by Premier Andrews. She has fired the first shot, but others are on the case.
The inquiry should resume its public hearings and apply a much more forensic examination than occurred previously.
Governments, politicians are accountable and answerable to the public. Manipulate the truth at your peril. The truth will always prevail.
Jeff Kennett is a former premier of Victoria