On the basis of opinion polls Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is almost certain to be re-elected next November making him one of the most entrenched of the Australian state premiers.
But lurking in the background are two court cases that will probe the workings of key government departments including their public servants and ministers. They may expose weaknesses in the Andrews administration that may have long term repercussions.
One of the cases is well known around Australia — the planned attempt to bring before the courts 16 public servants and ministers over the death of 801 people in the Victorian hotel quarantine scandal. I will update that case below.
The second Victorian government court challenge, is not as well known but will see Victorian public servants and police cross examined by one of Australia’s top barristers — Robert Richter QC who came into national prominence when he defended Cardinal Pell.
Richter lost the Pell case but the material he uncovered during painstaking cross examination was significant in the subsequent High Court decision to declare Pell innocent.
Richter has had a number of court appearances since Pell but the so called “I Cook” case will be another high profile affair. Richter will use his cross examination skills to put on display the inner workings of the Victorian government and police.
Although the issues are very different, paradoxically, the Pell case also involved the Victorian government and Victoria police.
Around 2009, the then federal regional development and Local Government Minister Anthony Albanese (now Opposition Leader) and the then Victorian Health Minister Daniel Andrews (now Premier) plus 13 Victorian councils set up a company called Community Chef to compete with private food manufacturers to provide home and hospital meals.
Neither Albanese nor Andrews realised back then that rarely do state-owned businesses perform well when competing fairly with well managed private sector operators. Not surprisingly both the Victorian and Australian governments have had to pour large sums into the Community Chef business to cover the losses. Conversely Community Chef’s rival, I Cook Foods, was prospering.
Suddenly in 2019 the Victorian Department of Health received a report that there might have been traces of listeria in sandwiches provided by I Cook Foods to a hospital.
Later checking discovered that the report was a complete fabrication and there was no listeria in sandwiches provided by I Cook Foods and indeed it’s doubtful that any patient was infected.
The local council sent in an inspector and apparently found a slug in the I Cook Foods’ plant. There is considerable doubt as to how that slug got there – it certainly couldn’t have crawled in.
The Victorian Department of Health speedily shut the plant down. Community Chef got tipped off and notified I Cook customers that the plant was being closed by the Department of Heath. Most of the I Cook business went to Community Chef.
Ian Cook is suing the Victorian government and its Department of Health for $50m for wrongful plant closure.
Two retired senior detectives have spent countess hours researching what actually took place and their material will be invaluable to Richter. And former Victorian police commissioner Kel Glare has also been active researching the cases which may trigger ASIC issues.
Ian Cook’s finances have obviously been devastated so Richter is not charging his normal fee.
To have so many high profile people rightly or wrongly believing the Victorian government and its public servants did something wrong highlights the importance of the case.
The I Cook case will be heard in the Supreme court around March-April.
The second case will take longer and may not make the courts until after the election. WorkSafe Victoria has sued the Department of Health for breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety Act but they have not taken legal action against any public servant or Minister.
Self Employed Australia has assembled a legal team to apply to the Victorian Supreme Court for a “writ of mandamus” (court order) requiring WorkSafe to comply with what is alleged to be its statutory obligations to take action against the ministers and public servants and not just the department. The action will not start until the required money is raised but so far the public appeal has been very encouraging.
The initial case and inevitable appeals by the defeated party mean it will take at least a year and maybe a lot longer. The action is likely to define the scope of occupational health and safety laws in Victoria and indeed Australia, many of which have not been extensively legally “tested”.
Principles of freedom crushed by intolerance
Of course, ostracising the voices with which one disagrees is nothing new. Indeed, Alexis de Tocqueville, who was fully familiar with its antecedents in classical Greece, foresaw the danger of a new form of ostracism emerging in a world increasingly shaped by public opinion.
Release of hostages is a win, but nothing is resolved
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