You’re moving too slowly on quarantine, key adviser tells Scott Morrison

One of Scott Morrison’s key advisers during the Covid-19 pandemic has accused the federal government of moving too slowly in expanding and establishing purpose-built quarantine facilities.

Former health department secretary Jane Halton. Picture: Nikki Short

One of Scott Morrison’s key advisers during the Covid-19 pandemic has accused the federal government of moving too slowly in expanding and establishing purpose-built quarantine facilities, saying “we should be getting on with this as a priority”.

Former health department secretary Jane Halton, a commissioner on the National Covid-19 Commission Advisory Board, said the quarantine system was not running at “best practice” after another outbreak in Victoria.

She said it was “perplexing” it had taken the government so long to expand the capacity of the Howard Springs centre to 2000 people after her report on the quarantine system released in Oct­ober called for the government to consider establishing a “national facility for emergency or surge situations”.

“I’m disappointed that it certainly appears we don’t have continual adoption of best practice right across the system,” she told the ABC. “Inevitably, (given) the numbers of people who are coming back to Australia, it is very difficult to have all of those people accommodated in facilities such as Howard Springs.

“It is good we are going to get Howard Springs to 2000 places. It is also … a bit perplexing that it has taken us this long. I think it is good we are now hearing positive signs that there may well be an agreement with Victoria.

“ I’m not wedded to one particular location … I think the style of quarantine we are talking about here is important and having that as a significant component of our quarantine ­program is certainly desirable.”

Under fire in question time, the Prime Minister said the government had “fully adopted” recommendations in the Halton report. He pointed to the Howard Springs facility and said “We are going further in receipt of the proposal by the Victorian government, which we are very, very close to”.

He said he would speak to Victoria’s Acting Premier James Merlino on Wednesday to discuss the state’s extended lockdown and proposal for a purpose-built quarantine facility.

Opposition Treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers accused the Morrison government of ignoring Ms Halton’s recommendations.

“She gave this government a report, months ago, warning about some of these things which have unfortunately eventuated,” he told Sky News.

Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said the Morrison government should “make further investment in quarantine facilities to provide additional capacity for those states and territories (to) open to more arrivals from overseas”.