Victorian Hotel Quarantine Inquiry Report

The Hon. I. PNEVMATIKOS (14:56): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing regarding public health. Given the minister's public statement that he did not read and did not ask for a briefing on the Victorian hotel quarantine inquiry report, can the minister now confirm whether he has read it and/or been briefed on it?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:57): I have reviewed the recommendations of the report and I have been briefed on it. I think it is important to stress that SA Health is continually striving to improve the state's hotel quarantine arrangements. Their advice draws on insights from a range of sources, such as the national audit by Jane Halton; the AHPPC, of which Professor Spurrier is a member; and the Victorian review.

Every day I am working with SA Health on how we can further enhance our already strong COVID response. Through this work, we became the first state in the nation to implement weekly testing of medi-hotel workers and we will create a designated facility for COVID positive travellers. In that context, it was interesting to see a report in last week's Herald Sun where the Victorian Premier said that the announcement about the hotel quarantine reset would soon be made but confirmed that arrangements would include having specific hotels containing all of the confirmed COVID-19 cases separated from other quarantining returning travellers.

I would make the point that that wasn't a recommendation of the interim report of the Victorian review. That is probably why the Herald Sun called for Victoria to follow SA's quarantine plans, as the Premier hinted at revamped hotel quarantine plans. In the article, it talks about a University of Melbourne epidemiologist, Tony Blakely, saying that the plan had merit. It was also backed by the Australian Medical Association President, Dr Omar Khorshid.