I’m going to made a bold prediction: Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos will be the scapegoat for Melbourne’s hotel quarantine disaster.
Here’s my reasoning.
First, unlike other jurisdictions, Mikakos rarely fronts the media for the daily COVID-19 briefings. Instead, the job goes to Premier Daniel Andrews, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton, or his deputies.
Second, almost all testimony from the Hotel Quarantine Inquiry has identified Mikakos’ Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) as the lead agency in charge of the failed program.
Finally, the unions want Jenny Mikakos’ sacking for her “breathtaking incompetence”:
There are calls for Daniel Andrews to sack his Health Minister, after a leading health union boss accused Jenny Mikakos of “breathtaking incompetence”…
“For the good of your government, for the good of health workers I represent, and for the good of all Victorians, Ms Mikakos must go,” she wrote in a letter to Mr Andrews on Wednesday.
She went on to say that in all the union’s dealings with the health Minister, “not once has she displayed even a basic understanding of her portfolio”…
“This is entirely about Ms Mikakos’ competence as your Health Minister, which is at the heart of your government’s response to this current pandemic,” she said…
“All Victorians are seemingly paying a price for her incompetence, ” she said.
Daniel Andrews needs a scapegoat and Jenny Mikakos fits the bill perfectly (except that she is a women).
Jenny Mikakos fronts the Hotel Quarantine Inquiry today. Grab the popcorn.
