Coronavirus: Push for Andrew Crisp to face quarantine inquiry again

Victoria's emergency tsar could face the hotel quarantine inquiry again after he retracted evidence he provided six weeks ago.

Emergency Management Victoria Commissioner Andrew Crisp has corrected evidence he gave on hotel quarantine to a parliamentary inquiry.

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Victoria’s top emergency chief has claimed he mistakenly told a powerful parliamentary committee three times that he briefed a state minister on the establishment of the government’s deadly hotel quarantine program.

Emergency Management Victoria Commissioner Andrew Crisp has written to the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee asking to correct evidence he gave about six weeks ago, with the extraordinary letter released under the cover of Tuesday’s federal budget.

In his testimony to PAEC on August 26, Mr Crisp emphatically states that on three occasions over March 27 and 28 — when the hotel program was being rushed into service as the coronavirus pandemic hit Australia — that he briefed Police and Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville.

Responding to the first of three questions, Mr Crisp said: “I was regularly briefing my minister as we were working through that particular operational plan.”

When he was asked a second time by Liberal MP Richard Riordan if he briefed Ms Neville, Mr Crisp replied: “I briefed my minister regularly throughout that day with regard to how the plan was being developed and who was going to be taking responsibility for various parts of that plan.”

Responding to a third question from Nationals MP Danny O’Brien, Mr Crisp said: “I briefed my minister regularly throughout that day as to what was being planned.”

But Mr Crisp is now seeking to change his testimony, with a letter from the Emergency Services Commissioner published on the PAEC website just hours before the federal budget was handed down.

In the October 5 letter, Mr Crisp said he had identified three occasions where he wrongly said he regularly briefed Ms Neville.

“I wish to correct this in acknowledgment that I did not brief the Minister for Police and Emergency Services throughout the 27 and March 28 2020 with regard to what was being planned,” he said.

Mr Crisp asked the parliamentary inquiry to publish his letter of correction along with a version of the transcript where the relevant comments are highlighted.

It is understood Mr Crisp approached PAEC requesting the Hansard be changed, with the October 5 letter outlining his revised facts to be included in the final report.

In his testimony to the hotel quarantine inquiry on September 15, Mr Crisp said he first learnt of the program during a meeting about 2pm on March 27 attended by himself, Ms Neville and then-chief commissioner Graham Ashton.

“Only based on the brief notes I made in my logbook on that day ... I believe that it was Minister Neville that briefed us in relation to the (hotel quarantine) program,” he said.

In his first statement to the hotel quarantine inquiry, Mr Crisp said he first learnt of the hotel quarantine program when it was announced by Scott Morrison at 3pm on March 27.

But he subsequently submitted an amended statement on September 12, in which he said his diary notes indicated he learnt of the program when he was briefed by Ms Neville prior to the PM’s announcement.

Andrew Crisp quotes from inquiry.

Opposition legal affairs spokesman Edward O’Donohue said PAEC needed to recall Mr Crisp as a witness as his letter of correction raised questions that required urgent answers.

“I think Andrew Crisp needs to clarify who he’s spoken to, how he’s come to have a change in opinion of his evidence and Lisa Neville must also clarify if she’s spoken to someone about this or someone from her office has spoken to him about it,” he said.

The Australian understands non-government members of PAEC, which is controlled by Labor, are willing to have Mr Crisp recalled as a witness given the changes to testimony.

Andrews Labor would have us believe it was a ‘mistake’ when EMV Commissioner Andrew Crisp told Parliament 3 times he briefed Minister @LisanevilleMP about Hotel Quarantine.

Check the video for yourself.

Labor will do anything to cover up its complicity over 800 dead Victorians https://t.co/HhP1JzjJQW pic.twitter.com/AwyY2RtBXM

— Michael O'Brien (@michaelobrienmp) October 6, 2020

Mr O’Donohue further wrote to the hotel quarantine inquiry, asking chairwoman and former judge Jennifer Coate to recast the inquiry’s eyes over Mr Crisp’s evidence. “This new statement to PAEC by Mr Crisp, changing crucial evidence and timelines, creates an urgent obligation on the Board of Inquiry to further investigate and scrutinise the evidence provided to the Board by Mr Crisp,” he said in the letter obtained by The Australian.

The Australian approached the hotel quarantine inquiry for comment.

Mr Crisp issued a statement on Wednesday afternoon saying he alone made the decision to correct the transcript, but failed to explain how his mistakes were made. “Following my appearance at the PAEC inquiry, I was provided with the opportunity to verify the draft transcript of those proceedings,” he said.

“Having thoroughly considered the transcript, I identified what I believe are discrepancies and appropriately, I have chosen to correct the record to ensure it is accurate.”