Coronavirus: I stand by my words on ADF offer, says Daniel Andrews

Daniel And­rews says he stands by a statement he made to a state parliament public accounts and estimates committee hearing last month.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews in Melbourne on Wednesday. Picture: Getty Images

Victorian Premier Daniel And­rews says he stands by a statement he made to a state parliament public accounts and estimates committee hearing last month, despite an email exchange tendered in evidence to the hotel inquiry­ on Tuesday appearing to contradict his version of events.

Regarding the issue of whether or not the federal government offered­ Australian Defence Force assistance with Victorian hotel quarantine, Mr Andrews told the committee in August: “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.”

But in an April 8 email, which had the subject line “Assistance re hotel stay security”, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Phil Gaetjens told the head of Mr Andrews’s department, Chris Eccles, that the commonwealth would be willing to assist Victoria with ADF troops in hotel quarantine 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.”

Asked on Wednesday whether he stood by his statement to the parliamentary committee, Mr Andrews, who is due to appear at the hotel quarantine inquiry next Wednesday, said: “Yes, I do. My statements have been accurate and I will be assisting the inquiry next week.”

Asked how his statement could be accurate, given it appeared to be at odds with the email exchange, Mr Andrews said: “All I can say is the statements I’ve made are accurate. I stand by those statements and I’ll be providing evidence, I’ll be assisting the inquiry next week, and it’s just not appropriate for me to be running­ debates back and forth.’’

Asked again how his statement could be correct, given it contradicted the information conveyed in the email exchange, Mr ­Andrews said: “That’s entirely a matter that relates to a whole lot of detail, both within the email and beyond, that it’s just not approp­riate for me to get into.

“I’ve answered your question. It’s exactly the same answer I gave yesterday because it’s accurate, it’s truthful, and others can seek to play games with this.

“I’m focused on getting this job done and the statements I’ve made are accurate.’’

Mr Andrews said he had not spoken to Mr Eccles since Tuesday’s hotel quarantine hearing, but added when asked whether Mr Eccles had told him about the email exchange with Mr Gaetjens that he would not be “getting into commentary on these matters”.

Should Mr Andrews be found to have misled the parliamentary committee, it could constitute a contempt of parliament, for which an individual may be punished.

However, any punishment would mean the Legislative Assemb­ly would have to take action­ against the Premier — something which is highly unlikel­y to occur, given that Labor holds 55 of the 88 assembly seats.