Twitter war of words as Mikakos lashes chief of staff

Former Victorian health minister Jenny Mikakos has taken a swipe at Daniel Andrews’s chief of staff Lissie Ratcliff on Twitter.

Victorian Minister for Health Jenny Mikakos. Picture: AAP

Former Victorian health minister Jenny Mikakos has taken a swipe at Daniel Andrews’s chief of staff Lissie Ratcliff, appearing to suggest Twitter trolls were acting at the behest of the Premier’s private office.

A tweet from Ms Mikakos, taken down within minutes of being issued, came just over five weeks after she resigned amid Victoria’s second wave of coronavirus, saying she was leaving her job “unfinished” in light of elements in the Premier’s evidence to the hotel quarantine inquiry with which she strongly disagreed.

In response to news from the Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday morning that Victoria had achieved its second consecutive day with no new coronavirus cases since March, Twitter user “contessa”, using the handle @contess91095837, tweeted at Ms Mikakos: “Anything to add Jenny? @JennyMikakos”.

In response, Ms Mikakos retweeted the tweet with the caption: “PPO (Premier’s Private Office) trolls come out to play. You should be embarrassed @lissieratcliff”.

The exchange came after Ms Mikakos hit out at the Premier as he announced a “cautious pause” on reopening plans on Sunday, receiving sustained abuse from Andrews fans on the social media platform after she tweeted: “Vic has met the under 5 (cases per day over 14 days) threshold which some thought was unachievable. This was a very cautious target. 6/7 of new cases are related to a known outbreak so the risk is manageable. The set reopening is gradual & safe so any delay is unnecessary. It’s paralysis in decision-making.”

The @contess91095837 account changed its name to an expletive on Tuesday. It had no followers and was following only the DHHS on Tuesday.

Jenny Mikakos tweet PPO trolls. Source : Twitter

The account first tweeted on October 9 and as of Tuesday afternoon had issued 265 tweets, many featuring abuse-laden attacks on female journalists and claims Jewish families had not been adhering to coronavirus restrictions.

Asked about Ms Mikakos’s allegation, Mr Andrews said: “I‘m far too busy with matters that are important to be wasting my time on nonsense.”