Coronavirus: Andrews stand by damned Covid-19 bureaucrats

Daniel Andrews says he remains ‘confident’ senior bureaucrats acted approp­riately despite major problems in Victoria’s quarantine regime.

Daniel Andrews says he top officials should remain in charge of Victoria’s response to the coronavirus. Picture: Tim Carrafa

Daniel Andrews has backed three of his most senior public servants, who have been accused of failing to keep him and key ministers informed about major problems in Victoria’s quarantine regime which sparked the state’s second-wave COVID-19 outbreak.

In the wake of damning recommendations by counsel assisting the state’s hotel quarantine inquiry that it find the government responsible for failing to contain the virus, the Victorian Premier said he remained “confident’’ his senior bureaucrats had acted approp­riately.

On Monday, council assisting the hotel quarantine inquiry Ben Ihle and the other counsels assisting, Tony Neal QC and Rachel Ellyard­, criticised Department of Premier and Cabinet secretary Chris Eccles, Department of Health and Human Services secretary Kym Peake and Department of Jobs secretary Simon Phemister.

“In our submission, these matters­ tend to demonstrate (an) attitude to transparency and accountabili­ty that likely manifest in its practices that contributed to problems within the hotel quarantine program,’’ Mr Ihle said.

But Mr Andrews said on Tuesday he had sought assurances that the three departmental heads were acting appropriately.

“I am aware of what the inquiry’s heard and I’m aware what submissions were led by counsel assisting yesterday,” he said. “You’ve asked me what assurances I have sought: I’m indicating to you that I am confident that those three public servants, indeed all public servants, are acting approp­riately.”

Asked how he could have that confidence, Mr Andrews said: “I’m not going to spend an hour and a half here every day detailing for you every conversation I have and every, you know, really, I have sought assurances.

“I am confident, and we will wait for the report, and then the repor­t will give us a sense — a very clear sense I would think — about what those next steps and actions need to be.”

Mr Andrews said he was satisfied that Mr Eccles, Ms Peake and Mr Phemister should remain in their roles and were safe to continue leading Victoria’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, ­despite the gravity of the counsel assisting’s recommendations.

The Premier said he would wait for judge Jennifer Coate’s final report­, due on November 6, and would not pass judgment on the counsel assisting’s remarks. The second wave of the coronavirus in Victoria has claimed 775 lives and caused more than 18,000 people to become infected.

“I will wait — as we all must, whether we like that or not,” Mr Andrews said. “We must all wait and see what the findings of the report are, the recommendations that may or may not be made.”

As Mr Andrews stood behind his public servants, Scott Morrison insisted that Victoria had been offered Australian Defence Force support at a national cabinet meeting on March 27, contradicting Mr Andrews’ testimony to the inquiry on Friday.

Describing Victoria’s hotel quarantine experience as a “great shame”, Mr Morrison said troops were offered to every state and territory. “It (the ADF offer) was taken up by most states, not by some, and that was a decision for the states and territories,” he said.

But Mr Andrews told reporters he stood by his evidence, in which he said he believed ADF support was not available following that national cabinet meeting.

On Friday, Mr Andrews told the inquiry that Mr Eccles should have told him the commonwealth had offered troops to assist with hotel quarantine in April.

Emails released by the inquiry on Tuesday detailed issues with private security guards in early April, including one instance in which two Wilson Security guards did nothing when a guest became aggressive with a nurse at the Pan Pacific in South Wharf.

“(Redacted) was put in a venerable (sic) situation and had to leave the room,” said a Global Victoria employee, whose name has been redacted. “The two guards on the floor did not stand up and protect or provide the nurse with any security … This is simply not acceptable.”

A response from Wilson said the two guards were removed.

Saying the hotel quarantine program needed guards that were “present and proactive”, the senior­ project manager employee complained that the guards were not helpful.

“Last night I asked for a guard to help me with excess detainees at the lift — not only did the guard just stand there and not assist but he was leaning against the wall,” they said. “He served no use whatsoever.”

In another email, Wilson ­general manager of regional oper­ations Greg Watson forward­ed an incident report in which a Unified guard had told a guard working at the Pan Pacific that 30 guards were coming onsite to help with new arrivals. “I believe that he is under the impression that I work directly with the hotel as hotel security.’’

Mr Watson described the incid­ent as “unethical”.

In legal advice provided to the DHHS, barrister Sarala Fitzgerald said authorised officers had to daily review the detention of each returned traveller and maintain a database of risks factors. On Monday, Mr Ihle said it was clear DHHS didn’t follow the advice.