Union call for Daniel Andrews to front media

Three days after it was revealed 33 Victorians lost their lives after waiting too long for ambulances, Daniel Andrews is yet to front the media.

UFU Victoria secretary Peter Marshall. Picture: Mark Stewart

United Firefighters Union boss Peter Marshall has led calls for Daniel Andrews to publicly respond to findings that 33 Victorians lost their lives after waiting too long for ambulances, amid three days of silence from the Victorian Premier.

The calls from the militant union boss – who is also demanding the resignation of Emergency Services Minister Jaclyn Symes – come after the government released two damning reports on Saturday by Victoria’s Inspector-General for Emergency Management.

Having put forward Ms Symes to respond to questions on Saturday, the government attempted on Sunday and Monday to divert public attention to other issues, sending Deputy Premier Jacinta Allan out to make announcements pertaining to her transport infrastructure portfolio.

Mr Andrews, who has not held a press conference since last Wednesday, has come under fire for making social media posts about wind farms, Father’s Day and a contest to choose Victoria’s best train station, but remaining silent about the IGEM reports since their release.

“We’re very disappointed. We understand the Premier’s got competing demands, however, we’re looking at the loss of 33 lives and we would have thought that would warrant intervention at the highest level,” Mr Marshall said of Mr Andrews’ absence.

He also accused Ms Symes of being “insincere” in her apology on Saturday to the families of those who had died waiting for ambulances, and of failing to contact some of them.

“This is why I’m so infuriated … it’s such an insincere apology from the minister in the context of apologising on the weekend, and dropping the report on the weekend when no one’s around, but on top of that the insincerity is magnified when it’s been revealed that family members haven’t been contacted,” Mr Marshall said. “The United Firefighters Union is calling on Jaclyn Symes to resign.”

Key among IGEM Tony Pearce’s findings was that one of the main reasons for Victoria’s Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority’s staffing failures was its funding model.

Mr Pearce found the Andrews government had been aware of ESTA’s “precarious financial position” as early as 2015, via the findings of an Auditor-General’s report.

He found that despite work having begun “more than 10 years ago” to address a funding structure that limits ESTA’s ability to provide adequate staffing during surge events, that work is “yet to be completed”.

“What’s clear to us is that there’s been more lip service and public relations appeasement rather than substance and outcomes that could have made a difference,” Mr Marshall said.

Communications Workers Union Victorian and Tasmanian secretary Sue Riley said ESTA had been “neglected for years”.

“The funding model was clearly insufficient because supplementary funding was sought every year for the past decade just to maintain sustainability,” Ms Riley said.

Opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier accused Mr Andrews of being “missing in action for not just one or two days, but now the third day after this report was handed down”.

“(It) demonstrates the callous, uncaring nature of the individual,” Ms Crozier said.