It’s laughable to suggest Mikakos is the only one to blame

Politics is a tough business. I’m never going to vote Labor, but I have to say that I have a sneaking suspicion that Jenny Mikakos is a sacrificial lamb, a scapegoat. She may well not have been the main culprit. She may have taken the fall or been pushed to save others.

Former health minister Jenny Mikakos resigned after the hotel quarantine inquiry.Credit: Joe Armao

Is it crystal clear that she was in charge of quarantine? Do you really think you can say that the whole fiasco in Victoria is her fault? What about the Victorian COVID-19 cabinet, which inexplicably excluded the Aged Care Minister? Did they knuckle down and get on top of the issues or meet for tea and scones?

It’s standard practice in government and elsewhere to have a wide range of views taken into account. The COVID-19 cabinet should be the place for that.

It is obvious that lines of responsibility were not clearly delineated. It’s fine to have a number of people making decisions on their patch, but when those patches overlap, the most senior person has to decide who, on a day-to-day basis, will make the final decision.

The various people have to meet or communicate regularly to keep up to date. But it’s not for a chat. It’s to monitor what’s happening and decide what needs to be done. We can all see the COVID-19 cabinet failed in that task. What else were they doing?

The lack of transparency around the whole handling of COVID-19 in Victoria is a blight on its public service and its government. Certainly there are times when ministers or senior public servants cannot be completely frank. But what we have witnessed here is a collective amnesia at the highest levels of politics and the bureaucracy.

It conveys either incompetence or worse. People who used the “I don’t recall” reply at the banking royal commission were the subject of public scorn. Why would anyone put themselves in that position today?

Of course there are things that people don’t remember. Well after the event, on which day or at what time somebody said or did something is often impossible to recall. Bits-and-pieces stuff isn’t always material. But when something is important, it’s a different matter. If it’s your responsibility and you know that it’s yours, your mind will be more focused.

If there are different views and you are the decision maker, you will be more likely to remember precisely because your decision is going to upset or be at odds with someone you work with.

It could be that there was no decent organisation and thus, despite the fact that everybody was doing their best, the inevitable happened. Why? Because nobody at the top was caring or responsible enough to make sure they knew what was going on. Nobody took control.

Just a quick look at the Health Department shows it has so many deputy secretaries that it’s a wonder anything gets done. There’s one person who has to take responsibility for a malfunctioning bureaucracy and it’s not Jenny Mikakos. The other scenario is that plenty of people know who messed up, where and when, but they have all gone into collective cover-up. It's disgraceful.

Assume for a minute that Mikakos did contract the security guards and failed to get proper instructions to them and failed to monitor them. Wasn’t there anyone else who knew? Didn’t anybody check anything? It’s laughable to suggest there wasn’t. If she was responsible, why didn’t the Premier call her to account at the time?

The key thing to remember is that you get what you inspect, not what you expect. The most worrying aspect of all this is that recent days have shown they may not have learnt their lesson.

If mistakes occurred in the building or mining industry that killed and harmed so many people, Victorians would be up in arms. Are there no Erin Brockovich fans left?

Cover-ups rarely work well. How many planes and lives were lost before Boeing grounded all 737 MAX aircraft? A failure to face the reality of the problem and deal with it only made things worse. It usually does. Now they are stuck with the problem that plenty of people will find it harder to trust them. When we return to international travel I for one will take an interest in what sort of aircraft we are booked on.

Brand management is important. Some companies manage better than others in a crisis. Johnson & Johnson, Herron Pharmaceuticals, Arnott's, Masterfoods, and even Lions Christmas Cakes, all managed potentially devastating attempts at product sabotage by protecting their customers first, their brand second and shareholder interests third. Customers first.

Victorians are the customer. Their government should look after them by doing its job. The mismanagement and incompetence have left Victorians under lockdown for too long. It didn’t need to be that way. And Mikakos is the only one to take a fall.

Amanda Vanstone is a regular columnist and a former Coalition minister.