You’ll be aware of our requests to WorkSafe Victoria for prosecutions to be brought against the Victorian government and several individuals over the Hotel Quarantine Program that resulted in alleged 801 deaths from Covid-19 last year. Our Campaign summary and key details are here.
We have had a major development that we can report to you.
Late last week (4 March) we received a letter from WorkSafe Victoria confirming again that WorkSafe is investigating breaches of work health and safety laws related to the Hotel Quarantine Program. This is significant. Here are the core facts.
I refer to your request for WorkSafe Victoria to bring prosecutions against various individuals and entities associated with the Covid-19 Hotel Quarantine Program.This is the clearest confirmation from WorkSafe of an investigation. Further it confirms that the investigation is occurring because of our correspondence to WorkSafe last year. Our key letter of 29 September 2020 uses section 131 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. That Section requires WorkSafe to investigate alleged work safety breaches when requested.
Please be advised that Worksafe’s investigation is still ongoing…
In our letter of 29 September we identified 142 breaches of the work safety laws.
All 142 offences we identified are indictable criminal offences.
We named 20 individuals and 6 entities as requiring investigation.
This includes:
- The Victorian Premier and 3 Ministers;
- The Chief Health Officer and 15 other heads of departments/agencies;
- The State of Victoria and 4 departments/agencies;
- Victorian Trades Hall Council.
The significance of the WorkSafe letter of 4 March is that it confirms that the named individuals and entities are being investigated for indictable criminal offences under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
The processes and procedures that are required under the Act mean that WorkSafe:
- must complete its investigation in a timely manner;
- must investigate each of the 142 alleged breaches against each of the 20 individuals and 6 entities;
- must write to us informing us of their decision to prosecute or not on each of the 142 alleged breaches.
And
- the Director of Public Prosecutions must consider the matter/s and advise WorkSafe whether a prosecution should be bought. We must receive a copy of this advice and if WorkSafe declines to follow the DPP’s advice, it must provide us with written advice for its decision.
• Section 131
• Relevant indictable criminal offences under the Occupational Health and Safety Act
• Our letter to WorkSafe 29 September 2020
• WorkSafe letter to us 4 March 2021
We shall continue to pursue this vital issue. It is important that in a just and fair society where the rule of law applies, that no-one is above the law, including government. 801 deaths cannot be ignored or forgotten and must be investigated to ensure that all Victorians and Australians are kept safe.
We shall keep you informed.
Victorian Government and Premier: Indictable criminal offences investigation (selfemployedaustralia.com.au)
