Dnarever wrote on Sep 25^th, 2020 at 10:48pm:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-12/fact-check-defence-force-coronavirus-fact...


As Victoria grapples with surging COVID-19 cases, sparked essentially by breaches linked to hotel quarantine, divisions have emerged between the Federal and Victorian governments over whether the Australian Defence Force offered assistance to help secure quarantine hotels in Victoria.

More than 3,400 ADF personnel, including medicos, logistical staff and soldiers are currently deployed across Australia, bolstering the efforts of states and territories to fight the virus.

Victoria has been criticised for being too slow off the mark in drawing on ADF personnel, with some observers blaming the use of private contractors to manage the hotel quarantine scheme for allowing COVID-19 to spread back into the community.

Catch up on the main COVID-19 news from September 25 with our coronavirus blog.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews told a parliamentary inquiry on August 11 that he did not believe ADF support had been offered to help run Victoria's hotel quarantining.

"I don't believe ADF support was on offer," Mr Andrews told the Victorian Parliament's Public Accounts and Estimates Committee, which is scrutinising the State Government's pandemic response.

"I think it is fundamentally incorrect to assert that there was hundreds of ADF staff on offer and somehow someone said no. That's just not, in my judgement, accurate."

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds immediately contradicted Mr Andrews' claim, releasing a statement saying the Prime Minister had made an offer to all states on March 27.

The statement said Victorian authorities had advised on March 28 that Victoria was not seeking ADF assistance with mandatory quarantine arrangements and "consistently advised that its (the ADF's) assistance was not required for any 'public facing roles' in Victoria."

"On 24 June 2020, Defence agreed to a Victorian Government request for 850 ADF personnel to assist with hotel quarantine compliance. The request was withdrawn by the Victorian Government the following day. The decision to withdraw the request is a matter for the Victorian Government."

Victoria's Emergency Management Commissioner, Andrew Crisp, then released a statement saying the ADF had participated in meetings on March 27 and 28, but "during these discussions I did not seek nor did representatives of the ADF offer assistance as part of the hotel quarantine program."

During the Victorian parliamentary inquiry Mr Andrews was pressed on why he had used private contractors to manage hotel quarantining rather than the ADF.

He said the quarantine program was an extension of a hotel scheme that was already in the process of being set up for vulnerable people and health workers.

Mr Andrews has previously admitted to a failure in the state's hotel quarantine program, with management of Victoria's program now the subject of a state inquiry.

The Department of Defence agreed to requests for support for quarantine compliance from both Queensland and NSW on March 28 and from WA on August 3, according to Ms Reynolds.

So, what exactly is the extent of the ADF's involvement in supporting the states and territories as they seek to contain the spread of the coronavirus? How many ADF personnel have been assigned in each jurisdiction, and in what capacity?


please read all the way down...

QLd ADF

There are 492 personnel in the state, including:

196 are supporting quarantine compliance management efforts, including at airports and hotels. Hotel quarantine support started from March 31.
156 are supporting state police with Queensland border controls.

NSW ADF.

There are 664 personnel in the state, including:

435 are supporting police with border control checkpoints on the NSW-Victoria border.
165 are supporting state police quarantine, reception and repatriation efforts at Sydney airport and hotels. Hotel quarantine support started from March 29.
12 are assisting the State Government with contact tracing.

Bobby. wrote on Sep 25^th, 2020 at 11:29pm:



bobby

this is some secret internal footage

it would make more sense to me   if they asked the Private Security Co that was hired in the first place...

I am sure they wanted to be paid for their efforts  so there would be a paper trail..

someone gave them the JOB......someone signed off on the JOB.....

how do they HIRE anyone or pay them for that matter..

to pretend ignorance is worse than owing up in the first place...

And while they are doing that Codsy, maybe they could check out HOW this shyster security firm ever got accreditation from the FEDERAL government. They are one of the feds PREFERRED companies.

cods wrote on Sep 26^th, 2020 at 7:55am:



you probably read that from some idiot on here ... the company was approved by the federal govt. and had been used by Dutton many times prior to covid.

John Smith wrote on Sep 26^th, 2020 at 8:00am:



not at all and not in this instance.. how would you know which company any govt uses??.. even more so security...how the hell would you know...they dont advertise who they use.

cods wrote on Sep 25^th, 2020 at 11:27pm:


Yes it looks like you are correct. Wonder why this contradicts the PM's offer in his offer of use for ADF resources where it is clearly stated that ADF were available to work one + one with police.

The ADF were actually involved in the planning phase of hotel security in vic.

cods wrote on Sep 26^th, 2020 at 8:05am:


Because they were on the list of government approved security providers.

That's right they came SloMo recommended.