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Victoria Police told in March police and ADF to provide quarantine security: AFP
Australian Federal Police commissioner Reece Kershaw has revealed Victoria Police was told it was expected police and the defence force were to provide security for the hotel quarantine program in a meeting in March.
The meeting took place in the days leading up to March 27 – the day Victoria's bungled quarantine program was established and records show Department of Premier and Cabinet secretary Chris Eccles called then-police commissioner Graham Ashton in a key six-minute period.
AFP boss Reece Kershaw says the issue of security was discussed with Victoria Police at a meeting of commissioners. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Mr Eccles this month resigned after being asked to hand his phone records to the state's hotel quarantine inquiry.
The inquiry is reconvening on Tuesday afternoon to further probe who made the decision to use private security guards.
Appearing before Senate estimates, Mr Kershaw on Tuesday revealed a meeting of state police commissioners prior to March 27 discussed the expectation that police and the ADF would be used for hotel quarantine.
The decision to use private security guards was made during a hectic afternoon on March 27 after the national cabinet decision authorising hotel quarantine.
At 1.22pm that day, Mr Ashton texted Mr Kershaw saying: "Mate my advise [sic] is ... private security will be used."
"Ok that's new," Mr Kershaw responded.
"I think that's the deal set up by our DPC [Department of Premier and Cabinet]," Mr Ashton said.
"Thanks Asho," Mr Kershaw responded.
Mr Kershaw said he responded with "that's new" because "my view was that the agreed or suggested way forward would be the use of police and ADF".
"That was something the police commissioner's forum had discussed prior to this," the AFP commissioner said.
Mr Kershaw said he wasn't concerned with the arrangement as it did not involve the responsibilities of the AFP, which had agreed to escort travellers from the airport to hotels.
He said he had no specific knowledge of who made the decision to use private security outside of what Mr Ashton told him in the text.
After resigning earlier this month, Mr Eccles remained adamant he did not tell Mr Ashton private security would be used.
"The telephone records do not in any way demonstrate that I, or indeed anyone else in DPC, made a decision that private security be used in the hotel quarantine program," Mr Eccles said.
"I am absolutely certain I did not convey to Mr Ashton any decision regarding the use of private security as I was unaware any such decision had been made, and I most certainly had not made such a decision myself."
The inquiry into the state's hotel quarantine program is reconvening for an "extraordinary" sitting on Tuesday at 2pm.
The decision to reconvene came after The Age revealed Victoria's Chief Health Officer, Brett Sutton, had been sent emails from the very beginning of the hotel quarantine system in March 27 alerting him and others that private security guards would be used.