Andrews added that the surge in triple-zero calls during the pandemic was “more intense than,say,a bushfire event ... much more prolonged and intense than,say,thunderstorm asthma”.
“No one is diminishing the impact that this event has had. No one is diminishing for a moment,the pain and the loss and the tragedy that we’ve seen as systems have been completely and utterly overwhelmed.”
Opposition leader Matthew Guy said the premier’s apology “dripped with insincerity”.
“He’s apologised at the same time as he’s trying to do a government stunt,” Guy said.
“The system is broken ... they need to resource it properly,they need to fix it. There’s no more excuses,lies or PR stunts,or explanations about his weekend. I’m not interested about his weekend;I’m interested in fixing the system.”
The emergency management inspector-general,Tony Pearce,toldThe Age on Tuesday the Andrews government’s response to his report failed to address the critical issue of a lack of sustainable,long-term funding for the agency. He described its current funding as “ad hoc”.
Andrews said on Tuesday there was “no equivalence” between the organisation’s funding system and its inability to respond to what he called an “unprecedented” surge in calls.
However,the independent report found “these financial constraints proved to be the main cause of ESTA’s inability to develop capacity to meet the scenarios that were played out in the COVID-19 Delta and Omicron waves”.
The report argued the service had been underfunded for years. This meant the agency was unable to respond to record demand,spurred by COVID-19,in 2020 and 2021. Call performance has since improved and more than 100 call-takers have been recruited.
Pearce toldThe Age the government’s $333 million four-year package was a “short-term fix” that did not put the agency on a long-term footing.
“What the IGEM wants,and it’s not unreasonable,he wants to know what’s going to happen beyond the funded period,” Andrews said. “We have to do better,we have to do more.”
Emergency Services Minister Jaclyn Symes discusses the review into Victoria’s triple-zero operator system,with ESTA boss Stephen Leane (left) and review author Tony Pearce.Credit:Paul Jeffers
The timing of the report’s release – on a Saturday when Melbourne was hosting itsfirst AFL finals weekend since 2019 –drew criticism from the state opposition and media outlets. Tuesday morning was the first time the premier appeared before the media to answer questions about it.
The opposition branded Andrews a “coward” over the timing of the report and not holding a press conference until Tuesday. The premier said it was offensive to grieving families to “draw an equivalence between my diary and the pain that these families[feel] today”.
“In terms of what I was doing – I was at home on Saturday,I wasn’t off doing something exotic ... And I was at home on Sunday. I was dealing with a rather sick child,” he said.
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“I don’t appear every single Sunday. I think I had spoken with you the three Sundays before. I’ve done more media conferences with you guys than many.”
He said he had “full confidence” in Emergency Services Minister Jaclyn Symes who managed the government’s response to the report,and dismissed criticism about the timing of its release.
“We’re in Melbourne. Every day in September is about football,” he said.
He said he had recently met with call dispatchers and knows they’ve been working “incredibly hard”.
“They are absolutely passionate about the work that they do,” he said,adding that the government has been recruiting hundreds of additional staff.
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