‘Presidentialisation of politics’: Daniel Andrews’ iron-fist era exposed in new documents

Former premier Daniel Andrews’ iron-fist leadership over all areas of government has been exposed in documents which show his private office intercepted routine media inquiries to health agencies.

The bid to hold tight control of the flow of public information is highlighted in more than 150 pages of Victorian Health Department memos over almost three months of the Andrews government’s final days.

Too controlling? Daniel Andrews has been dogged by accusations he centralised power in his office.Credit: Joe Armao

The papers, obtained by The Age through a freedom-of-information request, summarise all media inquiries received by the department each day and how they have been managed.

They reveal the extensive involvement of the Premier’s Private Office – nicknamed the PPO – in overseeing the responses, including to questions that had been posed to hospitals, the health minister and “independent” bodies.

Examples include an inquiry to hospitals asking if WorkSafe premium increases could impact their services, questions around why former chief health officer Professor Brett Sutton had not appeared at a press conference for more than 10 months, and a request for data on gender transitioning.

Integrity experts who examined the documents, which cover requests from July 4 to October 4 last year, said the number and frequency of health-related media inquiries involving the PPO was evidence of centralisation of government power.

Victoria’s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) and Ombudsman Deborah Glass have previously voiced concerns about the centralisation of power in the PPO.

Monash University associate professor Yee-Fui Ng, who has written two books on the growing influence of political advisers, said the “presidentialisation” of politics was increasing across Western democracies. This means power, including media management, is being concentrated in the office of the leader.

“I think this is part of what you’re seeing here with this,” she said.

Ng said this trend was concerning because it meant unelected ministerial advisers were wielding power at the expense of elected ministers, backbenchers and public servants.

“Clearly there is a continuing centralisation of power within the premier’s private office,” said Clancy Moore, chief executive of Transparency International Australia.

“It does seem, based on [these documents], that there is an increasing reliance on the premier’s private office to provide what should be sometimes pretty rudimentary responses.

“This could lead to less transparency and delays in important information being made public.”

The latest documents show that in mid-August last year, a journalist from the Australian Associated Press (AAP) contacted Safer Care Victoria – the state’s healthcare safety agency – asking for comment on a story from Victoria’s Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board, which monitors the state’s voluntary euthanasia system.

Former Victorian chief health officer, Professor Brett Sutton.Credit: Luis Ascui

The state government has described the review board as “independent”. However, the daily media wrap indicates that the inquiry meant for the review board was sent to the PPO.

The following morning, the health department, not the review board, sent a response declining to comment, according to the AAP journalist.

Another inquiry intercepted by the PPO was a request for a copy of a review conducted by the state’s healthcare safety monitoring agency, Safer Care Victoria, detailing cases where children attending Victorian emergency departments had died or had been seriously harmed.

Then-acting health minister Gabrielle Williams had claimed in a press conference in September that “there was nothing secret” about the review, but it was up to Safer Care Victoria, not the government, to decide whether to release it.

“As for whether it’s to be released, that’s ultimately a matter for Safer Care Victoria. They are an independent statutory authority,” she said.

However, the media digest log reveals a proposed response to the request for the report was sent to the PPO “for approval”. The request was later denied.

Instead, The Age obtained the document using freedom-of-information laws, which showed that 11 young Victorians had died in “wholly preventable” incidents of patient harm.

The media documents show that the PPO was sometimes involved in high-level questions about government policy or funding.

At other times, the questions were specifically directed at the Health Department, Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas or other health agencies, but landed at the PPO. They included a request for Royal Children’s Hospital and Monash Health data on medical gender transitioning.

In July, radio station 3AW contacted a number of health services, including the Royal Melbourne and Alfred hospitals, asking if WorkSafe premium increases could impact their services. The media summary said that the inquiry was “expected to be referred to the Victorian government” and that background had been provided to the PPO.

The same month, The Age posed questions to the health department and health minister’s office about why former chief health officer, Professor Brett Sutton, had not appeared at a press conference for more than 10 months, and why other media requests to speak to Sutton had been denied. The media wrap shows that this inquiry also passed to the PPO.

It is not the first time serious questions have been raised about the influence of the PPO in the health portfolio.

Last year, IBAC’s Operation Daintree investigation concluded that staff in the health minister’s and premier’s office had breached their ethical obligations by pressuring Health Department officials to award a contract to the Health Workers Union to train hospital staff to deal with violence against health workers before the 2018 election.

Jenny Mikakos, who was health minister in 2018 and 2020 in the Andrews government, described the government as “very centralised, with the PPO having its tentacles everywhere”. She said her handover meeting with her predecessor, Jill Hennessy, had “focused on how interventionist the PPO and premier had been in the health portfolio”.

Andrews could not be reached for comment this week. At the time of the release of the Operation Daintree report, he rejected claims of centralised power in his office that undermined the independence of ministers.

“The notion that the premier’s office today is a vastly different one to what it used to be in the past and [that] it used to be some sort of timid outfit – no, that is just not right.”

However, an Ombudsman report into the politicisation of the public service released in December again raised concerns about the growth and influence of the PPO. Andrews told IBAC that 70 or 80 staff were employed in the PPO.

Jacinta Allan replaced Andrews as premier on September 27 last year.

In response to questions about the size and the influence of the premier’s office under Allan, a government spokesperson said “all ministerial staff are employed by the premier” and work across the PPO, ministerial office and within the public service.