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| Coronavirus Australia live update: regional Victoria restrictions to ease as state records 42 Covid cases | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| The state reports no deaths; SA may open border to NSW; and WA adds to pressure for federal quarantine. Follow all today’s news | |
| Victoria’s emergency management commissioner Andrew Crisp was unable to recall key details about meetings deciding the hotel quarantine program. | |
| Crisp was asked about notes he made in a meeting with officials, including police minister Lisa Neville and then police commissioner Graham Ashton on 27 March, referencing security guards and ADF officers. Crisp said he did not recall the notes. | |
| In a submission provided to the inquiry, read out in the hearing, Ashton has said he asked Crisp about Victoria Police’s role in the program, and he recalled Crisp saying private security guards were going to be used. He also said emergency management Victoria was assisting with the coordination of the program but the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions would be running it. Crisp did not recall this conversation. | |
| Crisp’s predecessor, Craig Lapsley, also told the inquiry in a written submission that it would have been “prudent” for the state controller – to oversee the program – be someone like the chief health officer or someone with a medical background.It was envisioned that chief health officer Prof Brett Sutton could have filled the role, but the deputy secretary of DHHS, Melissa Skilbeck, told Crisp it would be difficult for Sutton to take the role with his other obligations. | |
| Skilbeck appointed Andrea Spiteri and Jason Helps from Emergency Management Victoria to the role. Skilbeck told the inquiry last week Sutton was against that decision. | |
| Gladys Berejiklian is holding her press conference. | |
| Remember how all those economists signed that letter in April, saying how they supported the lockdown, because it was better for the economy in the long run? | |
| Well, they still support the lockdowns. | |
| Does Victoria want the government to keep jobkeeper and jobseeker where it is? | Does Victoria want the government to keep jobkeeper and jobseeker where it is? |
| Daniel Andrews: | Daniel Andrews: |
| Q: The prime minister has told the hotels inquiry that he wrote to you three times offering ADF support. Why did you tell the Victorian parliament that there was never ADF support for the hotel quarantine on offer. | |
| Daniel Andrews: | Daniel Andrews: |
| Qantas wants to consolidate its headquarters to save on rent. Daniel Andrews says he has been chatting with Alan Joyce: | Qantas wants to consolidate its headquarters to save on rent. Daniel Andrews says he has been chatting with Alan Joyce: |
| Q: On policing more broadly. We’ve had the incidents you mentioned and a number of other incidents including earlier this month – an Indigenous man who I think was riding his bike to work on the metro tunnel. He ended up with his arm in a sling, his bike broken. Allegedly he was called a black C-word by police. Do Victoria Police have a serious cultural problem? | Q: On policing more broadly. We’ve had the incidents you mentioned and a number of other incidents including earlier this month – an Indigenous man who I think was riding his bike to work on the metro tunnel. He ended up with his arm in a sling, his bike broken. Allegedly he was called a black C-word by police. Do Victoria Police have a serious cultural problem? |
| Daniel Andrews: | Daniel Andrews: |
| No, I don’t believe so. And no, I don’t think that police would concur with the way you’ve described that particular event. They would have a different version of events but that’s not for me to advance. That would be for them to advance and I’m not sure whether there’s a court process or any other person... | No, I don’t believe so. And no, I don’t think that police would concur with the way you’ve described that particular event. They would have a different version of events but that’s not for me to advance. That would be for them to advance and I’m not sure whether there’s a court process or any other person... |
| Q: Are you alleging that that person is voicing untruths about... | Q: Are you alleging that that person is voicing untruths about... |
| Andrews: | Andrews: |
| I’m not alleging anything. It’s not for me to allege anything. I said police would take up the view of events and you’re free to test that with them. Whenever I don’t speak about a specific case, it will be for a good reason and I have where I’ve been save 20 do so, I’ve spoken at length and I communicated directly with the constable in Frankston who, it will be alleged, savagely assaulted – I thought that was the appropriate thing to do. | I’m not alleging anything. It’s not for me to allege anything. I said police would take up the view of events and you’re free to test that with them. Whenever I don’t speak about a specific case, it will be for a good reason and I have where I’ve been save 20 do so, I’ve spoken at length and I communicated directly with the constable in Frankston who, it will be alleged, savagely assaulted – I thought that was the appropriate thing to do. |
| In broad terms, and in very specific terms – just so there’s no doubt – Victoria Police are out there doing very important work. They do it with professionalism. They do it with skill. They do with a genuine concern to keep the community safe. I’m grateful to them, but where an individual incident occurs, which I don’t think speaks to culture, where an individual incident occurs, it should be properly investigated and I have confidence that that’s exactly what will happen. | In broad terms, and in very specific terms – just so there’s no doubt – Victoria Police are out there doing very important work. They do it with professionalism. They do it with skill. They do with a genuine concern to keep the community safe. I’m grateful to them, but where an individual incident occurs, which I don’t think speaks to culture, where an individual incident occurs, it should be properly investigated and I have confidence that that’s exactly what will happen. |
| Q: There have been numerous individual incidents, though. | Q: There have been numerous individual incidents, though. |
| Andrews: | Andrews: |
| Well, if you think about the number of - I haven’t got the numbers to hand, but pre-pandemic - and I don’t believe this has changed - pre-pandemic, the percentage of incidents, the number of incidents as a percentage of the total daily interactions that members of Victoria Police have with Victorians, it is a low number. Every one of those incidents is taken seriously and that’s why I’d make, perhaps, a different judgement about police culture than the one that you put to me. People are free to have a different view. But I’m here to make it very clear on behalf of the government that we think, notwithstanding any individual incident that needs to be and will be properly and fairly and frankly investigated, we ... My view is that Victoria Police are out there working very hard for all of us to keep all of us safe. And whether it’s Covid issues, or the youth gang push that was announced yesterday, I think Victoria Police have a very broad brief and they are working very hard to make sure that pandemic and afterwards, they’re out there fighting crime and keeping the community safe. | Well, if you think about the number of - I haven’t got the numbers to hand, but pre-pandemic - and I don’t believe this has changed - pre-pandemic, the percentage of incidents, the number of incidents as a percentage of the total daily interactions that members of Victoria Police have with Victorians, it is a low number. Every one of those incidents is taken seriously and that’s why I’d make, perhaps, a different judgement about police culture than the one that you put to me. People are free to have a different view. But I’m here to make it very clear on behalf of the government that we think, notwithstanding any individual incident that needs to be and will be properly and fairly and frankly investigated, we ... My view is that Victoria Police are out there working very hard for all of us to keep all of us safe. And whether it’s Covid issues, or the youth gang push that was announced yesterday, I think Victoria Police have a very broad brief and they are working very hard to make sure that pandemic and afterwards, they’re out there fighting crime and keeping the community safe. |
| On the incident which has left a man in an induced coma and a police officer suspended (on pay) Daniel Andrews says: | On the incident which has left a man in an induced coma and a police officer suspended (on pay) Daniel Andrews says: |
| Q: A lot of people are expressing their displeasure with you and what you’ve been doing over the last few months. There’s a “give Dan the boot” campaign, including photos of boots out the front of your father’s funeral. Is that stepping over the line? | Q: A lot of people are expressing their displeasure with you and what you’ve been doing over the last few months. There’s a “give Dan the boot” campaign, including photos of boots out the front of your father’s funeral. Is that stepping over the line? |
| Daniel Andrews: | Daniel Andrews: |
| Will Victoria restart hotel quarantine for returning travellers? | Will Victoria restart hotel quarantine for returning travellers? |
| Daniel Andrews: | Daniel Andrews: |
| Is the Victorian opposition right – are there now 100,000 people on the elective surgery waiting list? | Is the Victorian opposition right – are there now 100,000 people on the elective surgery waiting list? |
| Daniel Andrews says he doesn’t have the latest figures (so the opposition could be right): | Daniel Andrews says he doesn’t have the latest figures (so the opposition could be right): |
| Does regional Victoria now need to wait on metro Melbourne to take the final steps to a normal Covid-normal life? | Does regional Victoria now need to wait on metro Melbourne to take the final steps to a normal Covid-normal life? |
| Daniel Andrews: | Daniel Andrews: |
| Given the size of some country pubs, why cap indoor dining at 20? | Given the size of some country pubs, why cap indoor dining at 20? |
| Daniel Andrews: | Daniel Andrews: |
| Victorian authorities haven’t decided on whether or not you can camp in regional Victoria yet, and gyms are still closed – all classes must be outside. | Victorian authorities haven’t decided on whether or not you can camp in regional Victoria yet, and gyms are still closed – all classes must be outside. |
| Should people living in Melbourne feel like they are the only ones in Australia living under restrictions now? | Should people living in Melbourne feel like they are the only ones in Australia living under restrictions now? |
| Daniel Andrews: | Daniel Andrews: |