Coronavirus Australia: PM’s Covid troops offer to Premier

The PM’s Department offered Victoria troops to help with hotel quarantine more than a month before a breach sparked a second virus wave.

Rydges on Swanston was used for hotel quarantine in Melbourne. Picture: Getty

Scott Morrison’s most senior ­bureaucrat offered the Victorian government troops to help with hotel quarantine security more than a month before an infection control breach in the program sparked the state’s deadly coronavirus second wave.

The revelation — in an email released on Tuesday by the hotel quarantine inquiry — contradicts Premier Daniel Andrews’ repeated claims that Australian ­Defence Force members were not offered.

The email making the ADF offer was sent by Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet ­secretary Phil Gaetjens to the Premier’s top public servant, Chris Eccles, on April 8, more than a month before hotel quarantine breaches sparked the ­second wave that plunged ­Melbourne into lockdown, devastated the economy and cost more than 700 lives.

Hotel inquiry and email reveal

Hotel inquiry and email reveal

The Gaetjens email has cast doubt on Mr Andrews’ testimony to a Parliamentary Accounts and Estimates Committee hearing in August, when he said: “I think it is fundamentally incorrect to assert that there was hundreds of ADF staff on offer and somehow someone said no. That’s not, in my judgment, accurate.”

In the email, which had the subject line “Assistance re hotel stay security”, Mr Gaetjens told Mr Eccles the commonwealth would be willing to assist Victoria if the state reconsidered its operating model.

“On the question of assistance with security, I am advised the only deal with NSW was in-kind provision of ADF personnel,” Mr Gaetjens wrote.

“I am sure the commonwealth would be willing to assist Victoria if you wanted to reconsider your operating model.”

Mr Eccles replied: “Thanks Phil.”

Prime Minister and Cabinet Secretary Phil Gaetjens. Picture: Gary Ramage

A family who stayed at the Rydges on Swanston in mid-May has been linked to 90 per cent of Victoria’s second-wave coronavirus cases, which have caused more than 700 deaths, after several private security guards contracted COVID-19.

Whether ADF support for the hotel quarantine program was explicitly offered to Victoria has been a volatile political issue between the state and the commonwealth since Mr Andrews’s testimony in August.

His comments prompted ­Defence Minister Linda Reynolds to say ADF support had been offered to Victoria on multiple occasions, which was backed up when Lieutenant-General John Frewen said 100 troops had been put on standby to help establish the state’s hotel quarantine system.

 

In response, Mr Andrews has pointed to a statement issued by Victoria’s Emergency Management Commissioner, Andrew Crisp, on August 12 in which he said ADF support had not been offered during hotel quarantine plan discussions on March 27 and 28.

“No one’s ever questioned (whether) there were additional ADF troops or ADF personnel and decisions were made by the ADF,” Mr Andrews said.

On Tuesday, Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien accused Mr Andrews of attempting to cover up the origins of the state’s devastating second wave.

“How can Victorians have any confidence in a Premier or a ­government whose incompetence gave us a second wave of coronavirus and are now lying and covering up how it got to this?” Mr O’Brien said.

“Today’s evidence just demonstrates that Daniel Andrews lied to Victorians and to the parliament when he claimed there was no ADF assistance on offer.”

Mr Crisp did request 850 ADF troops to assist with the hotel quarantine program on June 24 but rescinded the request the next day.

On Tuesday, he told the hotel quarantine inquiry he withdrew the request following a request by the Health Department and after learning that other security options were being explored.

“I was asked if I would rescind the request for the 850 ADF, based on the fact that there was going to be a further meeting that day to continue to explore those other workforce options,” Mr Crisp said.

He said he would have ­objected to private security being used if he thought they weren’t up to the job.

“My thinking was well-trained, well-supervised private security in this role would have been efficient and effective,” he said.

The inquiry has previously heard that the decision to use private security was made at the request of Victoria Police at a meeting on March 27.

In an audio recording of the meeting played to the inquiry, Mr Crisp said there was no need for a “boots on the ground” ADF presence, with the Victoria Police preferring to be used instead.

Mr Crisp then sent a text message to Assistant Commissioner Mitch Grainger, who was at the meeting, that he had called Police Commissioner Graham Ashton who had just attended a meeting of departmental secretaries.

“I stepped out to speak to Graham and I let him know you’re in this meeting as he’s just come out of the (Victorian Secretaries Board),” Mr Crisp said in the 5.20pm message.

“He made it clear in VSB that private security is the first security option at ­hotels/motels and not police.”

Julie Condon QC, who is representing the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions at the inquiry, said Mr Ashton had said Mr Crisp told him private security was going to be used.

Crossing-examining Mr Crisp, Ms Condon said: “Mr Ashton says that you gave him the indication that private security guard would be used to guard the hotels.”

When Ms Condon asked Mr Crisp if he recalled the conversation, he said: “No, I don’t.”

According to an ADF situation report on Victoria dated March 20, personnel were considering using Port Melbourne as a location for mass graves as well as turning Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre into a makeshift hospital.

The army also had a 700-strong battalion ready to assist NSW Police when Sydney ­entered lockdown, according to an ADF task summary of the same date.