Ruby Princess : Health Minister Brad Hazzard's angry defiance another example of Berejiklian Govt's evasion; Commissioner Fuller's findings likely to be irrelevant once class actions against government are commenced
by Ganesh Sahathevan
News.com.au has reported that NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard became "even more combative" when asked (correctly) why he should not resign. Evading questions by crying lack of courtesy, threat and intimidation seems to have become the usual way in which the Berejiklian Government deals with issues it would rather keep concealed.
In the case of the Ruby Princess Premier Gladys Berejiklian has attempted to accuse the crew of the Ruby Princess of misleading NSW Health, and then directed the Commissioner of Police NSW Mick Fuller to investigate her allegations.
Regardless of what Commissioner Fuller concludes, lawyers, investigators and researchers working for claimants in likely class actions against the government for any loss, including loss of life, resulting from the Ruby Princess debacle, will conduct their own investigations.
They will conclude what they will, from the evidence they gather.
END
'Show a little courtesy': Hazzard defiant
Sam Clench
All of those earlier comments from NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard came during his initial statement. As the media conference continued and he took questions from journalists, things got even more combative.
"Explain to me how your resignation should not be on the Premier's desk right now," Channel 7's Denham Hitchcock said.
"Can I just say that the experts who made the decision were the best in the world. And the appropriate thing at this point is for the investigation to continue," the Minister said, referring to the investigation NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller is conducting into the Ruby Princess matter.
"Are you talking about the experts on the boat, or here? In your department, or on the boat?" Hitchcock followed up.
"The Health Department. I will take you through it, because it sounds like you don't actually know how it works," Mr Hazzard shot back.
"If you wouldn't mind showing a little courtesy, thank you very much," he said, as Hitchcock kept speaking.
Mr Hazzard said the decision to keep passengers on board ships or let them disembark was always a "balancing act".
"One issue that hasn't been picked up by the media, but which has been raised by the chief health officers involved in these processes – we all remember the Diamond Princess, when people were kept on board a ship and it was a disastrous outcome. And that operates in the mind of all the senior health officials across Australia. It is a balancing act," he said.
While sticking up for those officials, Mr Hazzard also made it clear that he himself had no role in the Ruby Princess decision.
"I think you have got to say, and I as Health Minister – same as the Premier and same as the Commissioner – we have to rely on the expertise on the health professionals," he said.
"I saw somewhere, somebody said I made the decision on the Ruby Princess. I didn't know anything about the Ruby Princess. I was dealing with all the other issues that were obviously being dealt with.
"Usually I start work here at 6am or 7am and finish close to midnight. I had no knowledge until the day after."
With that, he threw to Dr Chant, who gave reporters a breakdown of the decision-making process.
She said that while NSW Health knew there was a respiratory illness on the Ruby Princess, doctors on board the ship did not suspect coronavirus.
"Obviously if there are learnings and insights that we gather, those will be reflected," said Dr Chant.
"Just to be clear, there was nothing transmitted to that group of people that COVID was suspected by the doctor on the ship."
Crucially, the ship was given a "low" risk assessment.
"Can I just assure the public – because I think this is really critical – NSW Health had learned the lessons of the Diamond Princess, and had extensive planning under way to actually disembark people and passengers, should we suspect COVID-19 on a cruise ship," she continued.
"We had always planned to ensure self-isolation for people in the Sydney region.
"If we had known that COVID was on this ship, or had it been suspected, we would have chosen that way of disembarkation.
"While they were on the cruise ship, they were at risk of onward transmission amongst themselves.
"We would have got them off in a different way."
Dr Chant argued the vast majority of cases linked to the Ruby Princess involved people who were infected on board – and only 11 people so far have got the disease as a result of the decision to let it dock.
"Just to be clear, because I think it is really important. As I've indicated, for cases that we could have averted by decanting people in a more ordered way with face masks, and taking them directly to their homes, would have been in the order of 11," she said.
"The people that have acquired their infection on the cruise ship could not have been avoided, and every period of time that people were on that cruise ship, they were actually at risk of more transmission.
"The safest place for those passengers is off it.
"I just want to make it clear that the deaths and the cases on that cruise ship were acquired on that cruise ship."
Mr Hazzard jumped back in after that, getting the final word on the subject.
"I think the issue now is with the benefit of hindsight, people start drawing conclusions and say, 'Oh, he should have done this.' I actually think the health team we have is the world's best," he said.
"The questioning of that, to an extent, is valid, but it also has to be done in a temperate and sensible way.
"There's an assumption from you (reporters) and others that was was done is wrong."
Minister defends Ruby Princess decision
Sam Clench
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard also spoke at some length about the decision to allow the Ruby Princess cruise ship to dock in Sydney last month and unload 2700 passengers.
Hundreds of those passengers have since tested positive for the coronavirus, and seven of them have died.
A significant number of Australia's total confirmed cases – something in the region of 10 per cent – are linked to that single ship.
Understandably, this had led to criticism of NSW Health. But Mr Hazzard was defiant this morning.
He said the decision to allow the Ruby Princess to dock had been made by "the world's best" health experts.
"Today when I read some of the headlines, I have to say, my heart went out to those senior health staff," said Mr Hazzard.
"I have seen senior health staff – all I will say is that I have seen them extremely emotional because of the long hours they have worked and because of the challenges they are facing.
"I find it disappointing in the strongest way possible that there can be any suggestion that those people are not doing their best.
"In general terms, can I just say, this city of ours is the gateway to Australia. In normal times we pride ourselves on that. We believe that we actually do lead the way in this country, through Sydney and NSW. But part of that is we have more people coming through our airports and ports than any other state.
"We have more cruise ships that come through that port of Sydney than any other port in Australia. In a normal course of events there are about 300 of these cruise ships that come in through the port of Sydney every year, and sometimes it's more.
"The very senior health staff that make the assessments on those cruise ships are actually among the world's best. There are four, generally, involved in each decision. Four very senior health staff. They are specialist physicians, doctors with extraordinary training and experience in public health."
Mr Hazzard made a point of mentioning the state's chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, who was standing next to him. He said senior health staff like Dr Chant were working incredibly long hours to try to keep the community safe.
"I would say to all of you in the public – and actually it is not so much I think the public, there are others who are making comments – but I would say to the people who are being critical, know that these frontline staff are sometimes working, as Dr Chant did – she won't want me to say this, but last Saturday she worked for 31 straight hours before she stood before the media. She hadn't slept. People don't do that unless they have extraordinary commitment to all of us," said Mr Hazzard.
"What I would say to the community and to those who are leaping to criticise is, take a step back, and realise that we need every one of these people, who have worked their hearts out, worked every possible thing they could do to keep us safe, and we should be very temperate and careful in any criticism of those people.
"I think if the average person got some of the criticism that was being thrown at them, they would say, 'I am not doing this job anymore.' That is something we cannot afford to have. We need to make sure we are temperate and supportive of all these senior staff who are making these difficult decisions.
"I also want to point out that some of these staff have worked for between 10 and 30 years making these sorts of decisions. They bring to it the world's best expertise. In the case of one very senior person involved in the decision-making, he has actually made assessments on literally thousands of these ships.
"Cruise ships are always a challenge. Always a challenge. They can be great fun, but I think anyone who has been on one would know that we have regular outbreaks on cruise ships of issues like gastroenteritis, legionella, influenza, and we do need experts to be able to give the advice on how best to address those issues."
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