Union blasts Daniel Andrews’ claims on triple-0 crisis

Daniel Andrews’ is under intense scrutiny from key figures after he claimed issues with the trouble-plagued triple-0 system were not foreseeable.

A key union representing ambulance workers has launched a scathing attack on Daniel Andrews’ claims that inadequate funding of triple-0 service ESTA played no role in the deaths of 33 Victorians.

And Inspector-General Tony Pearce, author of a damning report on ESTA, rebuffed the Premier’s claims that the “extent of how overwhelmed the system was, was not foreseeable”.

Mr Andrews said this week his government “provided all the funding that was sought each and every year”.

Ambulance Employees Australia Victorian secretary Brett Adie said financial issues were highlighted in 2018 but nothing was done.

Between 2019 and 2020, call volume at ESTA increased by 6.9 per cent, but staffing increased by just 1.6 per cent.

Premier Daniel Andrews said the crisis was not foreseeable. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

“Staffing levels at ESTA were not even keeping up with pre-Covid demand, so what hope did Victorians have that resourcing was adequate to cover Covid?” he said.

“It is nonsensical to claim that more ESTA resources would not have resulted in better outcomes for patients.”

Mr Pearce told Nine: “History showed what was going to happen, unfortunately the funding did then not compensate for what we knew was coming”.

“Had NSW and Queensland done nothing but simply stick to a business-as-usual model, they would have been in the same situation as Victoria.”

The Victorian Inspector-General for Emergency Management (IGEM) report – which linked 33 deaths between December 2020 and May 2022 to triple-0 delays, long ambulance waits and command decisions at ESTA – found ESTA’s fee and funding model “insufficient”.

Victorian Inspector General Tony Pearce released the report into Victoria's triple-0 crisis. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

The report found “longstanding” issues with funding – raised years earlier – restricted ESTA’s ability to plan and left it unable to cope.

“The Victorian government was aware of ESTA’s precarious financial position as early as 2015,” it said.

Shadow emergency services minister Brad Battin said: “Band-Aid solutions won’t undo years of mismanagement and under-investment. Only a change of government will fix the health crisis and restore community confidence in triple-0.”

The government denied claims by former ESTA chair Roger Leeming that he was pressured to resign in 2015 after pushing for more cash.