Coronavirus: Brett Sutton, police chief point finger over curfew

Victoria Police Chief says the decision to impose a Melbourne curfew came from health advice; Brett Sutton denies it.

Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said he was not consulted on the curfew. Picture: AAP

The Victoria Police Chief Commissioner has said the decision to impose an 8pm to 5am curfew on Victorians did not come from police.

Shane Patton told ABC radio this morning he believed the decision had been made on “health advice”, contradicting comments from Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton on Tuesday.

The police chief said the curfew was contained within the Chief Health Officer’s directions.

“The Deputy Chief Health Officer has signed those, presumably under the direction and with the endorsement of the CHO,” Mr Patton told ABC radio.

Victoria's Chief Health Officer Dr Brett Sutton. Picture: AAP

Mr Patton said police were only told about the curfew a few hours before it was due to begin on August 2.

‘I was never consulted,’’ Mr Patton told 3AW radio. “I’ve made inquiries to determine if anyone in the organisation was briefed on the matter.”

Professor Sutton told 3AW on Tuesday the curfew had not been imposed as a consequence of his health advice.

Quizzed over whether the measure was one he had recommended to the Andrews government, the CHO said it was not.

“The curfew came in as part of the State of Disaster, for example. It wasn’t a State of Emergency requirement, so that was something that was introduced, but it wasn’t something that I was against from a public health perspective,” Professor Sutton told 3AW.

“I was consulted on it, but it was a separate decision-making pathway,” he said.

Asked whether he would have introduced it had the decision been his, Professor Sutton said: “ I’m not sure. I haven’t reflected on it. I think it has been useful. If I put my mind to it, probably.”

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said on Wednesday he did not know “exactly which person at what moment” suggested the curfew.

“Every time we make rules, police will give us feedback on how hard or easy they will be to properly enforce,” he said.

“These are decisions ultimately made by me.”