"The enforcement model for people detained in quarantine was a substantial part of an important public health initiative and it cost the Victorian community many millions of dollars. But it remained, as multiple submissions to the Inquiry noted, an orphan, with no person or department claiming responsibility."The Premier responded to the report by apologising to Victorians, particularly those who lost a loved one as a result of the outbreak.
"If I could go back and get a daily update, as I do now, about everything that's going on in hotel quarantine, I would." The assessment that the military was not needed was made "without any proper consideration of ... what would be the best enforcement option". "On its face, this was at odds with any normal application of the principles of the Westminster system of responsible government. That a decision of such significance for a government program, which ultimately involved the expenditure of tens of millions of dollars and the employment of thousands of people, had neither a responsible Minister nor a transparent rationale for why that course was adopted, plainly does not seem to accord with those principles.
The exclusion of Professor Sutton, against his wishes, contributed to the view of hotel quarantine as a logistics and compliance exercise, rather than a public health program.