A bombshell document kept secret for more than four years shows Victoria's public health commander was not consulted before Daniel Andrews' "crisis-cabinet" announced a curfew on Victorians almost five years ago.
The email - obtained exclusively by Sky News - has already prompted anger within the Victorian Opposition and even a partial concession within both the Labor government and the state's current Health Minister.
In August 2, 2020, the crippled region of metropolitan Melbourne was imposed with the unthinkable prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, a curfew limiting movement at night and also forcing thousands to stay within five kilometres of their home.
During that year, Professor Brett Sutton, Victoria’s Chief Health Officer described decisions he made, including the curfew, as among his most difficult.
“This is certainly awful advice to have to give to any government,” Professor Sutton told one of the hundreds of coronavirus news conference briefings held in Victoria’s purple-walled Treasury Theatre.
A document kept secret for more than four years about the Covid curfew decision under the Andrews government can now be revealed. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Paul Jeffers
A document kept secret for more than four years about the Covid curfew decision under the Andrews government can now be revealed. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Paul Jeffers
Fast forward nearly five years and only now is the disconnect within the state government's decision making becoming clear.
The revelations, uncovered in the document and analysed by Sky News, have since prompted Victoria’s Opposition Leader Brad Battin to renew calls for a full independent state parliamentary inquiry into the effects of the pandemic.
“I’m angry on this one and I think back to the time all Victorians complied by the rules put out by the Labor government,” Mr Battin told Sky News in an exclusive interview.
https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/politics/bombshell-document-about-victorias-covid-curfew-kept-secret-for-more-than-four-years-can-now-be-revealed-after-legal-fight/news-story/82950defde57ec38b611985f533eaff1