A judge has ordered the Allan government to disclose confidential documents explaining the state government’s rationale for enacting the toughest global lockdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The case before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal centres around four 2020 Freedom of Information (FOI) requests made by Liberal MP David Davis seeking correspondence Daniel Andrews had with the Chief Health Officer and briefings with his department relating to the numerous public health orders made during the pandemic.
The government refused to release the secret documents, declaring the process “would substantially and unreasonably divert resources”, but Mr Davis rebuffed this – claiming the department is “enormous” and had “more than adequate capacity to deal with this”.
VCAT came to a landmark decision this week when Judge Caitlin English declared the high level of public interest in the material documented in the briefings warranted its release.
After the government refused Mr Davis’ four FOI requests in 2020, the MP initiated a review by the Victorian Information Commissioner, but the commissioner did not decide within the legal time frame, prompting the MP to take the case to VCAT in late 2020 and early 2021.
Davis requested the Department of Health reveal all documents, information, advice, materials and scientific assessments that the government relied on in locking the state down.
Judge English this week rebuffed the claims that releasing the documents would place a strain on resources, ordering the government to release the documents.
“I am not satisfied processing the request would substantially and unreasonably divert the resources of the agency from its other operations,” Judge English said.
The judge also highlighted the exceptional public interest in the case due to the lack of justification provided to Victorians for the harsh lockdowns.
“There is a high degree of public interest in the release of the factual material that Public Health Orders were based on,” Judge English said.
“I direct the agency to process Mr Davis’s requests in accordance with the FOI Act.”
In October 2021, former COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar suggested it would take an estimated 169.4 to 208.4 working weeks – which is roughly four years- to process Mr Davis’ FOI requests, however, Judge English found little evidence of this.