Inside government crisis talks that decided Victoria’s lockdown fate

Thursday started with a rare show of public support from the Prime Minister towards Daniel Andrews’ leadership. Hours later Victoria was on the verge of another hard lockdown. Here’s how it unfolded.

On Thursday morning, Scott Morrison arrived in Melbourne for just the third time in a year.

There had been some last-minute doubt about the trip going ahead. Health officials in Canberra were already concerned about Victoria’s response to the unfolding hotel quarantine outbreak, particularly as disease detectives had been struggling to keep up with contacts linked to dangerous exposure sites since Monday.

High-level discussions had been held on Wednesday about whether to ask Victorian federal MPs to race up to the nation’s capital, in case border restrictions prevented them from leaving Melbourne for next week’s parliamentary sitting.

But the Prime Minister decided to fly south anyway, because he had business to attend to and because he wanted to make a point: that he had faith in Daniel Andrews and his team.

“I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t confident,” Morrison said at a late morning press conference in Melbourne’s southeast.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison visit to CSL serum lab to inspect COVID-19 Immunoglobulin being produced in Parkville Melbourne Picture: David Caird POOL IMAGES

Less than 12 hours later, it was clear that Victoria would be plunged into lockdown — again.

Events moved quickly on Thursday in the state’s public health team, with their advice for a snap lockdown motivated by two issues.

One was positive test results returned to three household members who lived with a hotel quarantine worker. While all were already isolating, testing chiefs were surprised by how quickly they became infectious with the UK COVID-19 strain.

The other issue was a positive case identified who had worked for almost eight hours at Brunetti in Melbourne Airport on Tuesday, potentially while they were infectious. As many as 5000 people had moved through Terminal 4 during the worker’s shift and were at risk of contracting the virus and then spreading it across the state — and the country.

By late on Thursday afternoon, Victorian health officials were well advanced in the process of drawing up legal directions for a “circuit breaker” lockdown.

At about 7pm, the Herald Sun learned of those discussions, and began contacting sources across the state government. Many senior figures were unaware of the rapid shift.

Frantic crisis meetings then ramped up through the night, including a crucial phone hook-up of the Premier’s co-ordinating committee featuring Tim Pallas, Jacinta Allan, Jaclyn Symes, James Merlino, Martin Foley, Lisa Neville, Martin Pakula and Richard Wynne.

Daniel Andrews, and the Minister for Health, Martin Foley, hold a press conference to discuss the current Victorian Covid situation Picture: NCA NewsWire/ David Crosling

Sources close to the late-night talks suggested there was some division among the ministers, with not all in favour of lockdown restrictions.

A consensus emerged, however, as it became clear that the public health advice in favour of the hard-line response would soon be public knowledge via the Herald Sun.

Federal Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly was also brought into the talks for his advice, as well as his colleagues on the Australian Health Principal Protection Committee.

Some were already nervous; South Australia had closed its border to Melbourne on Wednesday night, and Queensland had toughened its travel guidelines for Victorians.

Their worries were detailed in Friday’s Herald Sun, which revealed how Victorian officials had reported to the national common operating picture of their failure to notify dozens of contacts from exposure sites within the required 48-hour window on Monday and Tuesday.

The state government had sought to play this down, with senior sources explaining on Thursday that contact tracing had been beefed up with credit card transaction records and VicRoads licence details.

People cross a street in Melbourne on February 12, 2021, after authorities ordered a five-day statewide lockdown Photo by Con Chronis / AFP

Meanwhile, Morrison and Andrews had been unable to squeeze in a meeting in Melbourne, or to trade their traditional bottle of Lark whisky, but they traded text messages on Thursday. The Prime Minister was pleased to see the Australian Open successfully going ahead.

But by Friday morning, Morrison had read the play. He used at 8.35am interview with 3AW’s Neil Mitchell to indicate his tacit support for a lockdown — as long as it was a “precautionary, targeted, proportionate response”.

Victoria’s federal MPs saw the writing on the wall too. Even before they were instructed to fly to Canberra immediately, many had already packed their bags and headed to the airport.

At 9am, the Premier and his co-ordinating committee met again to lock in their response. The plan was taken to the full Cabinet at 11.45am, but by that point, it was already a done deal.

The Herald Sun broke the news online at 11.30am, with a government source saying a snap lockdown was needed “given the wildly infectious nature of this virus means we cannot sit still”.

Shortly after 1pm, Andrews faced the media to detail the return to stage four restrictions. He said there was simply no other option to contain the UK strain that was “so hyper-infectious and moves so fast”.

Within both the state and federal governments, senior figures shook their heads at how Victoria’s basic lines of defence — hotel quarantine and contact tracing — had let them down again.

As one source said: “This doesn’t happen in Sydney.”

Significant story on tomorrow’s @theheraldsun front page.@J_C_Campbell @ctinks pic.twitter.com/z1AZGikNJk

— Ashley Argoon (@AshArgoon) February 11, 2021

HOW VICTORIA WENT INTO LOCKDOWN

Thursday

Late afternoon: Victorian health officials learn of quick spread of the virus through household contacts of a quarantine worker. They begin drafting directions for snap lockdown.

7pm: The Herald Sun learns of lockdown discussions and begins contacting senior government figures, some of whom are unaware of what is unfolding.

Later at night: Daniel Andrews and his co-ordinating committee of key ministers hold crucial talks after rolling crisis meetings to decide their response. Federal Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly is also involved.

11.20pm: The Herald Sun breaks the news on heraldsun.com.au that high-level discussions are underway about a snap lockdown to prevent a third wave.

Friday

12.33am: The Health Department publishes an alert about a new exposure site at Brunetti at Melbourne Airport on February 9 between 4.45am and 1.15pm.

8.35am: Scott Morrison uses a radio interview to indicate his tacit support for a “precautionary, targeted, proportionate” lockdown.

9am: The Premier and his co-ordinating committee meet again to lock in their plan.

11.30am: The Herald Sun reveals online that a snap lockdown will go ahead.

11.45am: Andrews’s Cabinet meets to confirm the decision.

1pm: Andrews holds a press conference to detail the statewide stage four restrictions in place from 11.59pm on Friday to 11.59pm on Wednesday.

Originally published as Inside government crisis talks that decided Victoria’s lockdown fate