NewsBite

Robert Gottliebsen

Something rotten in the state of inaction: eerie parallels between Crown and COVID in Victoria

Robert Gottliebsen
James Packer and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews at Crown’s Melbourne casino in 2015. Picture: Aaron Francis
James Packer and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews at Crown’s Melbourne casino in 2015. Picture: Aaron Francis

There are remarkable parallels between the failure of Crown to properly run its Victorian casino and the inability of the Victorian government to operate a hotel quarantine system.

For the Victorian government, Lindsay Fox may be allowed to come to the hotel quarantine rescue, but his solution — to house a quarantine facility at Avalon airport — may be opposed by vested interests like Melbourne Airport, hotels and possibly even the bureaucracy. And while remote locations are far easier to administer if the chaotic management systems currently in place are transplanted to Avalon, or anywhere else, they too will fail. It’s the management systems, not the locations, that are the problem.

The similarity between the management breakdowns at Crown and the Victorian government are eerie.

In both the corporate and government worlds, administrations normally change when there are substantial failings. In the case of public corporations, the axe is usually delivered by shareholders and in the government sector it’s delivered by party politicians or, if an election is near, by voters.

In Canberra, the Morrison government is a product of this change process. The party room twice removed prime ministers before electing Scott Morrison to the job. The voters endorsed their choice.

In the cases of both Crown and the Victorian government, the shareholder/party room processes did not work. The Crown shareholder base was controlled by one person, James Packer, and most of the board had some past association with him. Crown, although a public company, was also a family business where, sadly, the dominant family member was no longer able to use his skills. The board became rudderless.

Similarly, in the current Victorian government, no one had the ability or courage to change the leadership so that proper ­management systems could be embraced.

In the case of Crown, the Victorian regulator had the power to force change but did not use it. Similarly in hotel quarantine a Victorian government regulator, WorkSafe, also has the power to prosecute and so enforce change, but has not used that power.

As I describe below, the pressure to force WorkSafe to do its job properly is set to increase.

The fact that two regulators in Victoria have failed to do their job exposes a weakness in the Victorian regulatory system.

It was a NSW inquiry, rather than Victoria, that forced the required Crown management and board changes.

Similarly, in hotel quarantine it may be outside pressure that will eventually force WorkSafe to recommend to the prosecutor that prosecutions be launched.

A double standard

Former premier Steve Bracks skilfully designed the Victorian occupational health and safety rules that are administered by WorkSafe. They are among the best in Australia and in 2019 were augmented by the current government with industrial manslaughter provisions.

Both the Bracks laws and the industrial manslaughter laws recognised that dangers to public health can arise in both the private and government sectors.

Sadly, there appears to be a regulatory double standard.

If a factory’s emissions had killed 800 people, the action to start the prosecution process would have been swift, particularly if the factory was still operating and still continued to pose danger to the community.

There is a considerable body of people with the funds to highlight the inability of the Victorian government to manage hotel quarantine and force WorkSafe to launch the necessary prosecutions.

So far everyone in the movement has remained silent except for Ken Phillips, CEO at Self-Employed Australia, whose members are ravaged by lockdowns.

Last year, on advice from some of Australia’s best occupational health and safety lawyers, Self Employed Australia used the provisions in the Bracks laws to write to WorkSafe asking it to prosecute a total of 16 government officers, ministers, departments and public servants.

WorkSafe asked for more time but under the act it can only delay for nine months before being forced to give reasons for not ­prosecuting.

Now this week Self-Employed Australia has written another letter reminding WorkSafe that its failure to prosecute has caused further damage.

The letter in part says: “The events of the past weeks involving the Melbourne Airport Holiday Inn Hotel quarantine program clearly shows that there have been further serious contraventions of the criminal indictable offences under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic) committed by the Victorian government, the most senior members of the Victorian government, government departments and the most senior members of the government departments.

“As a direct result of these contraventions, several people were infected with COVID-19, more than 3500 people were put at risk of contracting the virus and the entire state of Victoria was placed into a stage-four lockdown with all the health and safety risks that are well known and understood to be caused by such extreme lockdown measures.

“As a result, if the relevant prosecutions are not brought by WorkSafe within six months, that is, before August 7, 2021, the following request pursuant to section 131(1) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic) for such prosecutions to be brought will be forwarded to WorkSafe at that date.”

That’s legal talk for highlighting the nine months time clock. Hopefully, WorkSafe will do its job properly well before that deadline.

Read related topics:Coronavirus
Robert Gottliebsen
Robert GottliebsenBusiness Columnist

Robert Gottliebsen has spent more than 50 years writing and commentating about business and investment in Australia. He has won the Walkley award and Australian Journalist of the Year award. He has a place in the Australian Media Hall of Fame and in 2018 was awarded a Lifetime achievement award by the Melbourne Press Club. He received an Order of Australia Medal in 2018 for services to journalism and educational governance. He is a regular commentator for The Australian.

Add your comment to this story

To join the conversation, please Don't have an account? Register

Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/leadership/something-rotten-in-the-state-of-inaction-eerie-parallels-between-crown-and-covid-in-victoria/news-story/62f073c491d5aa0c150be2098b41ae07