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Coronavirus Victoria: Jenny Mikakos resigns in bombshell move

Victoria’s Health Minister Jenny Mikakos has resigned in a bombshell announcement just one day after Premier Daniel Andrews said she was partly to blame for the bungled coronavirus hotel quarantine scheme.

In a statement posted to her Twitter account, Ms Mikakos said she had written to the Governor of Victoria to resign from her position effective immediately.

Ms Mikakos, along with Jobs Minister Martin Pakula and Police Minister Lisa Neville, denied being involved in the decision.

On Saturday, Victoria recorded one more coronavirus death and 12 infections as Melbourne's new case average continues to fall.

In her statement, Ms Mikakos said she was looking forward to the inquiry determining who was at fault for the decision to hire security guards for hotel quarantine instead of using police or the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos addresses the media during a press conference in Melbourne.
Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos has resigned from her position in a shock move following Daniel Andrews' appearance at the hotel quarantine inquiry. Source: AAP

“For 3 months I had looked forward to learning who made the fateful decision to use security guards. Victorians deserve to know who,” she wrote.

“I have always put everything into my Ministerial responsibilities. I have never wanted to leave a job unfinished but in light of the Premier’s statement to the Board of Inquiry and the fact that there are elements in it that I strongly disagree with, I believe that I cannot continue to serve his Cabinet.

“I have never shirked my responsibility for my department but it is not my responsibility alone.

“I look forward to the Board of Inquiry’s final report.”

Ms Mikakos said she was “disappointed that my integrity has sought to be undermined” and also intended to resign from parliament.

‘I regarded Minister Mikakos as accountable for the program’: Premier

Victoria's second wave of coronavirus, which resulted in more than 18,000 new infections and 750 deaths, can be traced back to outbreaks among security guards at two quarantine hotels.

After six weeks of hearings, it is still not known who made the decision to use the guards instead of the police or the ADF, who assisted in other states.

"No one is claiming ownership of the decision, even though no one seems to have spoken against it at the time and no one who might have been the decision-maker seems to suggest if it had been them, it would have been a bad decision," counsel assisting the inquiry Rachel Ellyard said.

"There's just no one who says it was them. Are you aware of that?"

"I am," Mr Andrews replied.

"Do you know who it was?" Ms Ellyard said.

"No, I don't,” the premier responded.

A screenshot shows Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews during the COVID-19 Hotel Quarantine Inquiry in Melbourne, Friday, September 25, 2020.
Mr Andrews appeared at the COVID-19 Hotel Quarantine Inquiry on Friday, saying Ms Mikakos was partly responsible. Source: AAP

A number of witnesses including the head of the premier's department Chris Eccles have told the inquiry the call to use guards was a result of "collective decision-making".

But Mr Andrews said collective decision-making "does not remove accountability".

"It is very disappointing," he said.

Ms Ellyard said a potential explanation was it "wasn't really a decision consciously made by anyone but rather a kind of creeping assumption that formed amongst a group".

"That would be even more concerning to me because that's not a decision at all. That's just a series of assumptions," Mr Andrews said.

In his statement to the inquiry, Mr Andrews said Ms Mikakos and the Department of Health and Human Services were responsible for the running of the hotel quarantine program.

This contradicts with both Ms Mikakos and her department secretary Kym Peake's view that there was "shared accountability" with the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions, which was responsible for contracting hotels and security companies.

"At the start of the program, I regarded Minister Mikakos and Minister Pakula as responsible for informing cabinet about, and seeking cabinet's endorsement of, the initial overall service model and costings that had been determined for the program," Mr Andrews' statement reads.

"I then regarded Minister Mikakos as accountable for the program."

The premier was the final witness before the $3 million inquiry, headed by retired judge Jennifer Coate.

It will hand down its final report on November 6.

- with AAP

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