A Melbourne curfew imposed by former Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown was not based on health advice, an email exchange reveals.
On Aug. 2, 2020, five million Melbourne residents were put under curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. every day with only three reasons to leave home—work, medical care and caregiving.
Emails released by Victoria’s Court of Appeal reveal Victorian Public Health Commander Dr. Finn Romanes only found out about the curfew when Andrews announced it at a press conference.
Later that day, Romanes asked then-Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton for permission to issue a health direction in relation to the curfew.
“Premier Andrews has announced a curfew from this evening at the press conference,” Romanes wrote in an email to Sutton.
“Having been off duty for two days and having missed key conversations and considerations I have not seen any specific written assessment of the requirement for a curfew, although I am satisfied that it is Premier and Cabinet’s clear intention that the action of a curfew is required at the current time, based on the press conference viewed at 2:30 pm today.”
The emails were released to Victoria’s Leader of the Liberal Party in the Legislative Council, David Davis, on April 17.
In the revealing exchange, obtained by The Epoch Times, Romanes added, “The idea of a curfew has not arisen from public health advice in the first instance.”
“In this way, the action of issuing a curfew is a mirror to the State of Disaster and is not occurring on public health advice but is a decision taken by cabinet and announced today, as an important step in the response,” Romanes said.
A state of disaster declaration empowers the government to respond to an emergency situation, including controlling movement, taking possession of private property to respond to the disaster, and compelling evacuation from the disaster area.
It was the second time these powers had been used in Victoria, the first being during the devastating bushfires in January that same year.
Romanes asked Sutton in bold letters if he agreed that a direction could be issued indicating a curfew, to which Sutton replied, “Your assessment is correct as I understand it.”
“As a Public Health direction mirroring the curfew already decided in the State of Disaster, I am supportive of you authorising it as such,” Sutton added.
‘Important to Get to the Truth’: Victorian Liberal Opposition
The Victorian Opposition had been seeking this information under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 since Sept. 10, 2020.Their request was initially refused.
Davis said Labor had fought the release of this email exchange for four years and seven months.
He said the exchange between health officials was “very late in the day,” just over two hours before the curfew was due to come into effect at 8 p.m. on Aug. 2, 2020.
“It was not based on ‘health advice’ but was announced by Andrews peremptorily without health advice,” Davis said.
“The Public Health and Wellbeing Act in operation at the time required responsible officers to satisfy themselves according to the criteria in the Act’s objectives of the scientific basis of public health orders. In this case, the criteria cannot have been satisfied because there was no such detailed advice in existence.”
Davis said the damage caused by the Andrews government’s “draconian management of COVID still persists.”
“That is why it is important to get to the truth behind the shocking mismanagement of COVID by the Andrews Labor Government,” he said.
In a further statement provided to The Epoch Times, Davis said, “Victorians can have no level of trust in the Allen Labor Government, which has lied about a matter as important as a curfew locking down 5.3 million Melbournians.”
Davis noted the government had left Victoria with massive taxes and a debt bigger than New South Wales, Queensland, and Tasmania combined.
The Original Announcement
When announcing the state of disaster and curfews, Andrews said, “Our health experts tell us the measures we’ve introduced are working. But too slowly.”“As they tell us, based on the current numbers, cases might begin to drop off not in days or weeks—but in months.”
Andrews said this was not something he was willing to accept and said too many people were not taking COVID seriously.
“It’s why from 6 p.m. tonight, Victoria will enter a State of Disaster. From 6 p.m. tonight, Melbourne will also move to Stage 4 restrictions with stronger rules to limit the movement of people—and limit the spread of this virus across our city,” Andrews said.
He went on to announce the 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew, where people would not be allowed to leave home unless it was for work, medical care, or caregiving.
“Where you slept last night is where you’ll need to stay for the next six weeks,” Andrews said.
The Epoch Times reached out to the Victorian Health Department for comment.
