Landmark court ruling orders Victorian Government to reveal secret documents on COVID-19 lockdown decision

The Allan government has been ordered to reveal secret documents detailing the state government's decision to put Victorians into the longest lockdown in the world during the COVID-19 pandemic.

June 1, 2024

A judge has ordered the Allan government to disclose confidential documents explaining the state government's rationale for enacting the toughest global lockdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The case before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal centres around four 2020 Freedom of Information (FOI) requests made by Liberal MP David Davis seeking correspondence Daniel Andrews had with the Chief Health Officer and briefings with his department relating to the numerous public health orders made during the pandemic.

The government refused to release the secret documents, declaring the process “would substantially and unreasonably divert resources”, but Mr Davis rebuffed this – claiming the department is “enormous” and had “more than adequate capacity to deal with this”.

https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/politics/landmark-court-ruling-orders-victorian-government-to-reveal-secret-documents-on-covid19-lockdown-decision/news-story/98521e790f004545386a67b84e0f674d