Thread by @margokingston1

1. OK, Govts have known for a long time that a pandemic was inevitable and Bill Gates warned hard in 2015. Yet it seems as though there’s no Fed Govt Quarantine agency to protect us - huh?
cnbc.com/2020/04/16/bil…

2. We had an Australian Quarantine Service which looked after us in the Spanish Flu pandemic. It was abolished in 2012.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia…

3. Quarantine duties for plant, animal & human health were “absorbed into divisions in the Dept of Agriculture & Water Resources”, yet as this @KKeneally thread shows, Minister Littleproud DENIED any responsibility for human health.

https://twitter.com/kkeneally/status/1294057205151330304?s=21

https://t.co/SCeAiY0MaI

4. So Federal Govt has a black hole instead of a human quarantine capability. Scandalous, yes? I’ve asked this before, still no answer - why did Morrison outsource his Q responsibility to the States? Did they insist, or did the Feds have no capability, except last resort ADF?

5. Yes, Vic had ZERO expertise on Quarantine and scrambled in ignorance to organise it, but why didn’t the Federal Govt take charge? I’d really like an answer, wouldn’t you? Has Morrison ever been asked?

6. AFTER bad Vic Q created a 2nd wave, Morrison asks Jane Halton to do a ‘stress test’ of State systems. So Feds - responsible for Q, - did no oversight before then? What?!? Then no written report, just an ‘all OK and hotel staff were nice on meal variety’. Duty fail on steroids

7. The CW Quarantine Service looked after us in the Spanish Flu pandemic on sea and on our land. Somehow the Federal Government turned its back on its duty and left us exposed and defenceless in #coronavirusworld.

Thanks to @Qldaah for this link nma.gov.au/defining-momen…

8. Morrison blocked federal witnesses from NSW #RubyPrincess inquiry & if consistent will do same to Vic quarantine inquiry.
Where is HIS inquiry? He won’t call one. It’s up to journos & citizens to penetrate his zero accountability force field if we can

https://twitter.com/crowedm/status/1294044646033612800?s=21

https://t.co/gskC5Yam0l

9. Maybe States insisted doing their own quarantine or maybe Vic &/or other States said supervised quarantine was needed and Morrison said ‘you want it you do it’. WHY DON’T WE KNOW WHY THE PM OUTSOURCED HIS QUARANTINE RESPONSIBILITIES TO THE STATES YET? Has anyone asked him?

10. Yep.

https://twitter.com/kkeneally/status/1294168934132809729?s=21

https://t.co/BTUeSjtiyS

11. ABF off hook in #RubyPrincess inquiry but not replacement for Australia’s quarantine service, a section of Agriculture Dept. it did not do its job and that’s on Littleproud, who lied that its job did not include human health. @KKeneally was right.

https://twitter.com/crowedm/status/1294188909962747906?s=21

12. PM secrecy on Quarantine - HIS SOLE RESPONSIBILITY - accelerates. Now refuses to give Vic inquiry National Cabinet documents despite no legal basis to do so, after blocking bio security federal witnesses from NSW #RubyPrincess inquiry. Bad smell.

https://twitter.com/leroy_lynch/status/1294422853736046593?s=21

https://t.co/PM9gvl5Fzl

13. Damning #RubyPrincess findings against replacement Agriculture Dept section for abolished Oz Quarantine Service (see 11), now PM refuses to co-op with Vic inquiry = cover-up of duty dereliction? Come on press gallery, take PM on as hard as Vic reporters did to Andrews.

14. #RubyPrincess report finds Fed Govt abandoned its duty to police human health Quarantine at ports. Now PM covers up docos on hotel quarantine.

@AlboMP, demand inquiry into CW abandoning its constitutional responsibility for human health quarantine in #coronavirusworld?

16. Misplaced media focus on ABF re Fed role in #RubyPrincess debacle. DAMNING FINDINGS ON DERILICTION OF DUTY by DAWE (dept of agriculture, water & environment) responsible for human health quarantine since Oz Quarantine Service abolished. @D_LittleproudMP Minister response?

17. Please press gallery, ask PM why he said ABF wasin charge of cruise ships before #RubyPrincess when it had no legal powers to do anything? And why the Fed body which had the power, DAWE, under Littleproud, didn’t do its job it and failed to tell NSW?

https://twitter.com/andrewprobyn/status/1294056885394399233?s=21

18. @GladysB apologises unreservedly for NSW part in #RubyPrincess. Where is @D_LittleproudMP apology for his Dept’s dereliction of quarantine duty, & why haven’t journos asked? Accountibility 0 for DAWE - why? @CroweDM @murpharoo @KKeneally

https://twitter.com/margokingston1/status/1294468418565857281?s=21

https://t.co/lXYDCj7yUk

19. Basically Andrew is saying #RubyPrincess report said ABF had no role but the PM & ABF claimsed it was in charge. All marketing as usual from #ScottyfromMarketing. The report found the federal agriculture dept had a role, and just didn’t do its job.

https://twitter.com/andrewprobyn/status/1295321040105611264?s=21

https://t.co/OZnglKWfRP

20. This thread is about the fact that the Federal Govt is responsible for quarantine yet abolished the Australian Quarantine Service re human health & replaced it with a sham section in DAWE. Despite the known inevitability of a pandemic. That’s the big picture scandal here.

21. #ScottyFromMarketing pretended ABF was in charge of #RubyPrincess then, after early Christmas Island operation, outsourced quarantine to States with no expertise. Doesn’t excuse Vic debacle, but explains him blocking witnesses & info to cover up his marketing scam.

22. The BIG picture. A deadly serious rethinking of the role of Government & major reform is vital. The systemic failures of Govt in #coronavirusworld must be addressed.

‘Please read this #Webdiary essay Muddying the waters between guardians & traders’

google.com.au/amp/s/amp.smh.…

23. Fed Agriculture Dept admits it didn’t check health of #RubyPrincess passengers as required by law, contributing to the disaster. @CroweDM only PG journo to challenge false #ScottyFromMarketing claim inquiry cleared the Feds.

https://twitter.com/politics_smhage/status/1295592673382817792?s=21

https://t.co/IwVIPivJlH

24. Agriculture Dept (DAWE) head Andrew Metcalfe, had falsely told Senate inquiry his dept, responsible for human health quarantine since Oz Quarantine Service dissolved, had obeyed the law. (No wonder the PM blocked evidence to the NSW inquiry.

theguardian.com/australia-news…