“What is going on here is unacceptable to me,” Premier Daniel Andrews told the multicultural media

Neos Kosmos has been calling for a media conference to pose questions directly to Premier Daniel Andrews. On Thursday, 13 August, he called a multicultural media conference on Zoom. Along with Neos Kosmos, African Media Australia, Il Globo, Australian Jewish News, Chinese and Indian media were present.

Premier Andrews emphasised multicultural media’s “role in communicating with different communities as a source of trusted information has never been more important.”

“I think the place of culturally appropriate media is important and that’s one of the reasons why I’m talking to you today and will do this more regularly.”

Mr Andrews acknowledged that it has been “a very challenging time for communities right across the state.”

“This virus doesn’t discriminate between anyone.”

At the conference Mr Andrews announced “$14.3m for an expanded health messaging” as well as “advertising in multicultural media.”

He called upon those in the conference to “come up with a common list of things that you want” and said he was happy to “give that priority”.

Mr Andrews recognised that “many multicultural media players will be struggling to get to the other side [COVID19 Lockdown]”.

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He announced an additional $14.3 million to reach out to more culturally and linguistically diverse Victorians and ensure they get the support they need, when they need it.The funding includes $6.9 million for expanded health messaging and support for multicultural organisations that work on the ground to deliver emergency relief, such as culturally specific accommodation and food for those self-isolating or in quarantine.

“Part of the $14.3m is about supporting you to do your work and advertising in multicultural media,” the Victorian Premier said.

Neos Kosmos asked the Premier if he thought that some, if not all, of the Greek elderly deaths could have been avoided if Hotel Quarantine was better managed.

The Premier said this was the first opportunity he had to directly relay a message to Neos Kosmos and its readers

“I am heartbroken to think that people who have lived their whole life working hard to build a better Victoria have been a victim of this wildly infectious pandemic. I send my best wishes my condolences, my thoughts my prayers, the concerns, not just of my government, but from my family, to every Greek Australian family who are dealing with that grief. There is no question that what is going on here is unacceptable to me, and unacceptable to the Victorian community.”

Mr Andrews went on to say he established a “process to get answers” and added that the “ultimate accountability is with me.”

“I’m the leader of the state and the leader of the government that is the job that I have, at this point though, we have to wait and get the answers that Judge Coate will provide.”

Mr Andrews emphasised that the inquiry has been set up under the Inquiries Act and highlighted former Judge Coate’s “lifetime’s experience” adding that she had “a strong budget and a very broad terms of reference.”

The Premier went on to underscore the “very significant grief and pain that so many Greek Australian families are experiencing at the moment”.

“I am very limited in what I can say in relation to certain age care homes, but there’s a coronial inquiry going on but I want to assure every one of your readers that we are doing everything we possibly can in a sector that we don’t regulate.”

While private aged care is a Commonwealth responsibility Mr Andrews said that the Victorian government “is helping as never before.”

“We’re working closely with the Commonwealth Government because the only thing that matters is getting the job done,” Mr Andrews said.

Visibly emotional the Premier said: “This has been a terrible tragedy and one that saddens me and I hope that there is some small measure of comfort for those families that are dealing with that, at a very personal level, to know that I fully acknowledge what is going on here.”

Mr Andrews said he had “the great honour” of meeting many members of the Greek Victorian community and called them “proud and strong and hardworking.”

“I know them to have a sense of community that is bettered by no other migrant community.

“They [Greeks] have a tremendous heritage and they stick together; they are great contributors and have my respect and support.

“As a strong community they will stick together and they will get through this, and if we can in any way provide support and assistance that’s exactly what we’ll do.”

Neos Kosmos asked the Premier to reflect on how a political vision could be expressed by Victoria’s top bureaucrat, Mr Eccles’ in June where he expressed “confidence and trust” at the handling of the pandemic and reflected on “the greatest opportunity” as a “career public servant to shape the economy” and “create a more equitable inclusive and progressive society.”

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The Premier said he would “not try to interpret what the head of the public service said” however added that Mr Eccles might be “reflecting on a significant event and the opportunity and “profound obligation to look at what it throws up.”

Mr Andrews said that one of the great challenges of this second wave “has been the impact that insecure work has on, not just the economy, but on our public health response.”

The issue being that some people who don’t have sick leave “have a terrible choice between getting paid or isolating at home, some people were making that choice under the economic pressure they were under to go to work after being tested, before getting back their results.”

“When this is all over there will be an obligation on all of us to do something about the number of Victorians, the overwhelming majority of whom are of a multicultural background, that are in very insecure work, where you don’t know if you’re working the following day until you get the text message that night before, you don’t have the safety net that many of us guard and very proud of like those Greek Australians that you mentioned who have social security benefits and security blanket they have spent their entire lives to build,” Premier Andrews said.

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Neos Kosmos asked as to why the Premier and his colleagues have been calling the Board of Inquiry a Judicial inquiry and if that was a way of limiting the media’s capacity to ask certain questions?

The Premier responded by saying, “I don’t see any difference, the Inquiry is chaired by former judge and it’s set up by the under the Inquiries Act.”