Prime Minister’s letters to Daniel Andrews revealed

The bombshell letters reveal Scott Morrison‘s repeated offer of help to Victoria just as the state was plunged into lockdown.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison pressured Daniel Andrews to accept 1000 Australian Defence Force troops to Victoria in July to help the state fight the deadly second wave of COVID-19, according to a series of letters released through Freedom of Information laws.

The letters, obtained by Sky News Australia, were sent from Mr Morrison directly to the Victorian Premier and detail the pressure the Prime Minister placed on Mr Andrews to accept Defence Force help.

In one letter, sent on July 11, Mr Morrison suggested a combined operation between Victoria Police and the ADF which would include “an estimated 1,000 ADF” which “could be progressively deployed in this way over the next week, with greater scope beyond”.

“It is critical to the containment of the virus that the now thousands of people in isolation and quarantine are carefully tracked by phone and personal visits to ensure compliance (and to ensure their welfare),” Mr Morrison wrote.

In an earlier letter, on the 4th of July, before Melbourne went into full stage 3 lockdown, Mr Morrison wrote that “the Commonwealth stands ready to provide any support needed on top of the existing measures in place, including Australian Defence Force support to support planning and logistics, and Commonwealth staff to support clinical efforts, community engagement and contact tracing.

“As we have seen with the previous outbreaks in North West Tasmania and Sydney, these types of outbreaks can quickly overwhelm local health systems. I reaffirm the offer of Commonwealth for on-the-ground support and help in co-ordinating support from other states while acknowledging Victoria’s leadership.”

On June 26, the Prime Minister revealed in a press conference that a request for 850 ADF officers made by the Victorians in the wake of the second Victorian outbreak had been rescinded. The Commonwealth submission to the Victorian government’s hotel quarantine inquiry tabled this month said that on June 24 Victoria’s emergency management commissioner Andrew Crisp sent an email to Emergency Management Australia and the ADF attaching three requests for assistance, one of which sought up to 850 ADF personnel.

The next day, June 25, Mr Crisp sent an email withdrawing the request “based on changing operational and resourcing requirements”.

The inquiry found that the Prime Minister then wrote to the Premier Andrews on three separate occasions – July 4, July 6 and July 11 and Mr Andrews responded on July 5th, 7th, 12th and 14th.

A senior government source has put to me that Victoria accepted the ADF assistance after Mr Morrison wrote one of these letters in such a way that Mr Andrews could not afford to refuse the assistance.

This correspondence came after April 8 correspondence between the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet Secretary Phil Gaetjens to Victorian head of the department of premier and cabinet Chris Eccles offering ADF support to help with quarantine. Mr Eccles has since given evidence that he could not remember whether he passed on that offer.