Coronavirus: ADF stands by offer to help quarantine security

The Australian Defence Force has again confirmed Victoria was offered assistance with hotel quarantine before the disastrous program began.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews at his daily coronavirus briefing in Melbourne on Friday. Picture: David Crosling

The Australian Defence Force says Victoria was offered help with hotel quarantine the day before the disastrous program began, ­directly contradicting repeated claims to the contrary by Daniel Andrews and the state’s top emergency official.

The ADF said state authorities were offered support on March 28, ­rejecting a statement made by Emergency Management Victoria Commissioner Andrew Crisp that has been heavily relied on by the Victorian Premier since he told a parliamentary inquiry it was “fundamentally incorrect” to ­assert there were “hundreds of ADF staff on offer and somehow someone said no”.

It comes as mounting evidence of the ADF’s willingness to assist the state emerges from the hotel quarantine inquiry, with counsel assisting Rachel Ellyard saying on Friday that Victorian authorities understood there was the potential access to ADF help.

In answers provided to a Senate committee scrutinising the ­national response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which were tabled on Tuesday, the ADF said Victoria was offered help several times before mandatory hotel quarantine began nationwide on March 29.

“On 28 March 2020, ADF ­officials asked whether Victorian authorities required assistance with its mandatory quarantine system on multiple occasions,” the ADF said.

“No request for quarantine support was subsequently received from Victoria at that time.”

Before this, the ADF was assisting Victoria Police with enforcing home quarantine as part of Operation Sentinel, while other personnel were embedded across several state agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services and the EMV.

The new information emerged as Mr Andrews continued to deny he misled a parliamentary committee, with a spokeswoman on Friday saying the Premier stood by his previous comments.

Victoria’s coronavirus second wave, which has claimed 730 lives, was sparked by poor infection control among private security guards at quarantine hotels in mid-May.

Who made the decision to use private security instead of the ADF or Victoria Police has ­become a central question.

After Mr Andrews parliamentary committee testimony last month, Mr Crisp issued a statement on August 12 saying the ADF was involved in the initial planning of the hotel quarantine program in March, but did not offer assistance.

“Representatives of the ADF participated in the Operation ­Soteria planning and co-ordination meetings on 27 and 28 March 2020,” Mr Crisp said. “During these discussions I did not seek nor did representatives of the ADF offer assistance as part of the hotel quarantine program.”

On Friday, Ms Ellyard said it appeared Victorian authorities knew they could get ADF support.

“The evidence seems to be that the Victorian authorities understood that there was the potential access to ADF help … but they considered that they had enough resources for the various enforcement power powers that could be used in a hotel quarantine program,” she said.

Announcing the lifting of the cap on international arrivals on Friday, Scott Morrison said the ADF would play a crucial role in monitoring hotel quarantine.

“All of that will be done on the express guarantee of support, which I’ve always been happy to provide, which was ADF assistance in that task,” he said.

Mr Andrews is scheduled to front the hotel quarantine inquiry next week with Jobs Minister Martin Pakula, Police Minister Lisa Neville and Health Minister Jenny Mikakos.