Covid surveys grilled public on lockdown ‘frustrations’

Daniel Andrews’ department is fighting to keep its top secret pandemic surveys from being seen.

QDOS Research chief John Armitage. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

A report sent to Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’ department detailing “frustration impli­cations” detected in confidential Covid-19 surveys during 2020’s marathon lockdown is among hundreds of documents the government is fighting to keep secret from Victorians.

Dated October 1, 2020, the email contained analysis from Mr Andrews’ $2m strategist, QDOS Research chief John Armitage, of community surveys during the 112-day lockdown.

“Below are (Armitage’s) main take outs from last night’s groups in Ballarat,” QDOS director Sue Loukomitis wrote in the email to a Department of Premier and Cabinet staff member, whose identity has been redacted.

“Apologies they aren’t in a ­separate memo; we have several groups starting tonight that have a fair bit of technical content, so need to make them understandable! We will get you the full report early next week, including our observations of any frustration implications on actually breaching the rules.”

The rest of the email, released among hundreds of pages to The Australian under Freedom of Information laws, is redacted. The DPC cited “cabinet exemptions”.

The department is challenging a decision by Victoria’s Information Commissioner ordering it to release to The Australian a trove of documents detailing ­secret Covid-19 surveys .

At a directions hearing on Monday, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal adjourned the matter until October 12 for a compulsory conference.

Adrian Anderson, counsel for The Australian, urged the matter be resolved before the state election on November 26 as the contents of the redacted QDOS documents were a matter of ­“intense public interest”.

QDOS’s October 1 email to the DPC was sent after the company hosted focus groups of Victorians in Narre Warren and Ballarat on September 29 and 30, 2020. At this time, Melbourne was living under some of the tightest lockdowns in the world, including 5km limits on movement, a curfew and restrictions on visiting homes.

The QDOS documents that have been released suggest while the Premier said the lockdowns were guided by health advice, the government was also sensitive to political fallout, and embarked on a massive program of secret community surveys that included asking the public to rate the government’s leadership on managing the pandemic.

A discussion guide for the focus groups, released to The Australian, referred to as “pulse check” states: “Initial ­reaction/top of mind discussion following recent announcements – expected/unexpected, extent of resignation/frustration. Why has the government taken this approach?”

QDOS also asked the Narre Warren focus groups their attitude to “gatherings of up to five outdoors – from two households, no curfew and larger fines for those breaching gathering rules”.

There was also a section of the survey where QDOS asked the focus groups about “Victoria’s ­direction” and the government’s performance in managing the pandemic.

QDOS boasts that among its skills is the ability to “squeeze, pump and stir public opinion” and expertise in “changing public opinion”.

Victorian Information Commissioner Sven Bluemmel, in his finding in May this year, ordered the DPC to release many of the redacted documents, ruling there was a “particularly strong” public interest in the documents, including emails and attachments, between QDOS Research and the DPC, being made public.

“I’m not satisfied their dis­closure would be contrary to the public interest,” Mr Bluemmel found in a FOI victory for The Australian.