Premier Daniel Andrew’s team led push for guards
Texts reveal the state’s former police chief was stunned that federal authorities weren’t running hotel quarantine.
Emails, texts and notes written by Victoria’s most senior police officers have provided compelling evidence that Australian Defence Force personnel were offered to help guard quarantine hotels — and Daniel Andrews’s own department made the decision to opt for private security guards.
Pressure is mounting on the Victorian Premier as evidence shown to the hotel quarantine inquiry casts fresh doubts over his version of events, including testimony given to a parliamentary inquiry in which he claimed ADF support wasn’t offered.
In text messages then police commissioner Graham Ashton sent to his Australian Federal Police counterpart, Reece Kershaw, on March 27, he said that using private security “was a deal set up” by the Department of Premier and Cabinet.
In a message sent at 1.22pm, Mr Ashton said: “Mate. My advice is the ADF do passenger transfer and private security will be used.”
He followed up with: “I think that’s the deal set up by our DPC. I understand NSW will be a different arrangement. I spoke to Mick F (NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller).”
Questioned on the text messages by counsel assisting, Rachel Ellyard, Mr Ashton said he had no independent recollection of the messages or the context in which he sent them.
In another message to Mr Kershaw, he said: “Mate. Question. Why wouldn’t AFP guard people?”
Breaches linked to poor infection control by security guards working at the hotel quarantine program sparked Victoria’s coronavirus second wave, the death toll of which hit 725 on Thursday.
Last month, Mr Andrews told a public accounts and estimates committee hearing that it was “fundamentally incorrect to assert that there was hundreds of ADF staff on offer and somehow someone said no”. The Premier is due to appear before the hotel quarantine inquiry on September 23.
Who decided to employ private security instead of using Victoria Police or the ADF has become a pivotal question as Melbourne remains economically kneecapped under a hard lockdown while the rest of the state transitions to softer restrictions.
On Thursday, the inquiry was shown notes taken by current Chief Commissioner Shane Patton of a briefing he received from Mr Ashton on March 27 concerning the arrival of travellers. “ADF available re static guarding of sites,” he wrote at 7pm.
In his statement, Mr Patton said the diary note was made.
after a 39-minute conference call with senior police including Mr Ashton and Deputy Commissioner Rick Nugent.
“I do not recall any reference being made to the role to be played by Victoria Police or private security companies,” Mr Patton said. “I do not recall the conversation that led to my note ‘ADF available re static guarding of sites’.”
In an email from Mr Nugent to Assistant Commissioner Michael Grainger and Mr Patton, he said Mr Ashton had advised him that private security would be used at the hotel quarantine program, which was discussed in a meeting between department secretaries.
“DPC (Department of Premier and Cabinet) also rang me about this issue late last night and confirmed that was the arrangement discussed at VSB,” he said in the March 28 email.
“I did suggest, if increased risks/issues identified, ADF could have a role in this regard.”
In reference to the email, Mr Patton said in his statement that Mr Nugent subsequently told him: “He is now not sure of the identity of the person who called him, or whether that person was, in fact, from the DPC or another government department.”
He said he did not know who made the decision to engage private security guards and was also not aware of any police resistance to the involvement of the ADF.
In his statement, Mr Ashton said he was told by Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp hours before Scott Morrison announced the quarantine program that private security guards would be used to guard the hotels. He said he had been comfortable with guards preventing unauthorised entries and exits from the hotels but had not envisaged they would be used as escorts or have close contact with returned travellers.
“My expectation would be that if there was work to be done which involved interacting with the returned travellers, this would have been done by people with appropriate health and other training, not by security guards,” Mr Ashton said.
He said the possible involvement of the ADF in the hotel quarantine program had nor been raised with him. Evidence previously given to the inquiry indicated the decision to use private security was the preference shown by Victoria Police, including Mr Ashton. He categorically denied on Thursday that the suggestion to use private security had come from him, saying he had merely agreed with the plan.
“I don’t recall the conversation but what I … would have conveyed to him what I understood the plan to be and that I agreed with the plan.”
Mr Ashton told the inquiry Victoria Police preferred the ADF to play a “back of house” role in the response to the pandemic
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