Charges Against State Health Department Over COVID-19 Quarantine Problems Dropped

A person closes the curtains in a room at a government-authorized COVID-19 quarantine hotel in Richmond, B.C., on Feb. 28, 2021. Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press

COVID-19 hotel quarantine charges against the Victorian Department of Health have been dropped amid a major loophole.

Victorian prosecutors dropped charges after the evidence of 10 key health department witnesses was ruled inadmissible.

Health department employees provided evidence to the Victorian Government’s Hotel Quarantine inquiry, but this evidence was found to be unusable again in other proceedings.

During Victoria’s second COVID-19 wave, which resulted in more than 800 deaths, 99 percent of cases were traced back to workers at quarantine hotels.

WorkSafe Victoria told The Epoch Times it is “deeply disappointed” by the decision to discontinue criminal proceedings against the Department of Health.

The independent regulator charged the health department with 58 alleged breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety Act in relation to the COVID-19 hotel quarantine program in 2021.

These charges followed a 15 month investigation involving the review of tens of thousands of documents, including evidence submitted to the hotel quarantine inquiry.

Then, in March 2023, a magistrate determined there was enough evidence to “support a conviction” and the Department of Health was committed to stand trial, according to WorkSafe.

However, following this committal, the health department sought a ruling on the admissibility of evidence based on a reading of the Inquiries Act 1980.

Court Ruling In Favour of Department of Health

On April 9, the county court ruled in favour of the Department of Health to exclude relevant evidence under Section 80 of the Inquiries Act, which articulates that evidence produced in a board of inquiry cannot be used in other proceedings.

The result was that the statements provided by 10 key witnesses became invalid.

The Victorian Office of Public Prosecutions (OPP) did not appeal this court ruling.

“WorkSafe is deeply disappointed by the decision to discontinue criminal proceedings against the Department of Health in relation to the Victorian hotel quarantine program,” A WorkSafe spokesman told The Epoch Times.

“As an independent regulator, WorkSafe strives to enforce the highest standards of health and safety for workers and the community it serves.”

‘Noone is Going to be Held Accountable’: Opposition

Australia implemented strict border closures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, requiring returned travellers to undertake 14 days of quarantine in facility, including in Victoria.

Melbourne, Australia’s second largest state, also endured one of the world’s longest lockdowns under the leadership of then Premier Daniel Andrews.

Opposition leader John Pesutto expressed concern that “no-one” will be held accountable for the loss of 800 lives from hotel quarantine.

“Like a lot of Victorians, we viewed with dismay and deep concern the loss of over 800 lives around hotel quarantine,” Mr. Pesutto said during a press conference.

“Victorians will never forget the loss of life on such a huge scale at the time and they would certainly hope that there’s a proper basis for this decision.”

Mr. Pesutto said he “can’t quite connect the dots” and called for any other reasons for the decision to be made public.

The Opposition leader said a lot of Victorians will be wondering why no-one is going to be held accountable for “one of the worst disasters” in Victoria’s recent history.

“I think this will be deeply disappointing for Victorians. What Victorians want, is someone fairly and reasonably to be held responsible. Someone’s got to be accountable to someone, somewhere. And it just seems under this government, whatever it is, noone is held accountable for anything,” he said.

Mr. Pesutto added Victorians just want fairness and they want to see it applied right across the board, “irrespective of who you are.”

“So whether it’s the COVID-inquiry and nobody is being held accountable, whether it’s this, now the abandonment of  a criminal proceeding, noone is being held accountable,” Mr. Pesutto said.

“Really, is that how we run things in Victoria? I think people will be very disappointed with this outcome.”

Meanwhile, U.S. pilot Aisling Salisbury, a Victorian who travelled between her home nation and the United States during the pandemic, told The Epoch Times the news hardly surprised her.

She said in her opinion, hotel quarantine was “all needless” and authorities should have just opened up the state in the first place.

“It doesn’t surprise me that there’s no accountability in the public service,” Ms. Salisbury said.

A spokesman for the OPP quoted by The Age said the inadmissible evidence of 10 witnesses had “substantially weakened” the prosecution case.

“As a consequence of the evidentiary ruling, a determination was made that there were not reasonable prospects of conviction in relation to the charges before the court,” the spokesperson said.

The Victorian government accepted all recommendations of the COVID-19 Hotel Quarantine Inquiry and took action to implement the recommendations.

The Epoch Times has contacted the Victorian OPP for comment.