Accountability in modern politics ‘questionable’ if ‘Andrews remains’ in his position

Political consultant Jim Middleton has questioned the meaning of “accountability” in “modern politics” as Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews remains in his position of authority after claiming to be accountable for errors in the hotel quarantine system.

The Premier vowed he would bear responsibility for any mistakes that were identified in investigating Melbourne’s hotel quarantine bungle which sparked a severe uptick in the state’s coronavirus caseload.

“We know mistakes were made, if he’s accountable, to put it bluntly, why is [Andrews] still there,” Mr Middleton told Sky News.

“We’ve seen ministers in the Victorian government go for issues like branch stacking but I don’t recall ministers across Australia being dismissed or standing down for matters of substance.”

“The idea of having a standard ministerial office as we understood it under the Westminster system has disappeared.”

He said he expected the question of responsibility for mistakes made would be focused on about five ministers in the Andrews government.

“But in fact all the real decisions were being made or should have been made out of the Premier’s office,” he said.

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