Chris Eccles, the most senior Victorian public servant and the head of Premier Daniel Andrews' department, has resigned after being asked to hand his phone records to the state's hotel quarantine inquiry.
The records show Mr Eccles called then-police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton in a key six-minute period on the day Victoria's ill-fated hotel quarantine program was established.
Mr Eccles, a veteran public servant who has run departments in NSW and South Australia, said he had resigned in order to not distract from the work of the government.
Chris Eccles, secretary to the Department of Premier and Cabinet, gave evidence to the inquiry into hotel quarantine.
The hotel quarantine inquiry on Sunday requested Mr Eccles and other senior Department of Premier and Cabinet officials hand over their phone records to determine whether they called Mr Ashton on March 27, when it was decided private security would guard returned travellers in Melbourne's quarantine hotels.
Mr Eccles, who told the inquiry he did not recall whether he phoned Mr Ashton, said in a statement on Monday morning that his phone records showed he had phoned Mr Ashton at 1.17pm and spoke to him for two minutes.
After that call Mr Ashton sent a text message to Australian Federal Police chief Reece Kershaw at 1.22pm, saying a plan had been set up by Mr Eccles' Department of Premier and Cabinet to use private guards.
However, Mr Eccles remains adamant that he did not tell Mr Ashton private security would be used.
"The telephone records do not in any way demonstrate that I, or indeed anyone else in DPC made a decision that private security be used in the hotel quarantine program," Mr Eccles said.
"I am absolutely certain I did not convey to Mr Ashton any decision regarding the use of private security as I was unaware any such decision had been made, and I most certainly had not made such a decision myself.
"There has been much commentary and speculation about whether I or anyone else at DPC spoke to Mr Ashton during that narrow timeframe on 27 March. It is now evident I did.
"Ultimately the Board will make its conclusions regarding the matters before it. However, in the circumstances, and with the heightened level of focus on this issue, I do not want a focus on me to in any way undermine the extraordinary work of the public sector as it continues to respond to unprecedented challenges of 2020."
The hotel inquiry also heard Mr Eccles failed to inform Mr Andrews about an April offer from Prime Minister Scott Morrison's department for Australian Defence Force support at hotels.
Mr Eccles, who sometimes referred to himself as "Mr Wolf" after the Pulp Fiction character, thanked Mr Andrews for allowing him to serve as the head of his department.
"I have been a public servant for over 30 years. It has been a great honour to have led the public services of South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria, having been appointed by both Labor and Liberal-led governments to the head of the Premier’s Departments in those states," he said.
"I would like to thank the Premier for the most immediate privilege of serving his government and the people of Victoria.
"I have taken this decision with a sense of clarity that to remain in this position would be a significant distraction to the ongoing work of the Victorian public sector and the citizens of our state as we enter a critical phase of easing COVID-19 restrictions."
Paul is a reporter for The Age.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMic2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRoZWFnZS5jb20uYXUvbmF0aW9uYWwvdmljdG9yaWEvdmljdG9yaWEtcy10b3AtcHVibGljLXNlcnZhbnQtY2hyaXMtZWNjbGVzLXJlc2lnbnMtMjAyMDEwMTItcDU2NDZ4Lmh0bWzSAXNodHRwczovL2FtcC50aGVhZ2UuY29tLmF1L25hdGlvbmFsL3ZpY3RvcmlhL3ZpY3RvcmlhLXMtdG9wLXB1YmxpYy1zZXJ2YW50LWNocmlzLWVjY2xlcy1yZXNpZ25zLTIwMjAxMDEyLXA1NjQ2eC5odG1s?oc=5
2020-10-11 23:03:00Z
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