‘Treat with caution’: Mikakos takes aim at Premier in explosive hotel quarantine submission

Former health minister Jenny Mikakos says the evidence Premier Daniel Andrews has provided to the hotel quarantine inquiry about the use of private security should be treated “with caution”.

In an explosive final submission to the inquiry, which was made public this morning, Ms Mikakos said the haste with which the program was set up “saw the usual Cabinet processes subverted”.

In the submission, Ms Mikakos said it was “implausible” to suggest no one made the decision to use private security guards in the program.

Ms Mikakos claims both the Department of Health and the Jobs Department were in charge of the set up of the hotel quarantine, and neither she, as Health Minister at the time, nor her former department, should not be held “solely accountable”.

The former health minister says “the weight of evidence points clearly to an actual decision … made during the course of or soon after, the meeting of National Cabinet”.

The submission says Department of Premier and Cabinet secretary, Chris Eccles, with the permission of Premier Daniel Andrews, made calls to set up the program during that National Cabinet meeting.

The Premier has since said he wasn’t “interested in getting into a debate” publicly about the matter.

He said he had not spoken with Ms Mikakos since she abruptly resigned from cabinet.

Daniel Andrews said he would wait until the inquiry made its findings.

Press PLAY below for analysis of what’s in the submission

(Image: Robert Cianflone / Getty)