Foley vetoes Brett Sutton as witness at inquiry

Professor Sutton was called to appear at the parliament’s Public Accounts and Estimates Committee budget estimates hearing on Friday, and was cleared by Health Department secretary Euan Wallace. But the Herald Sun has been told the appearance was subsequently overruled by Health Minister Martin Foley. Asked on Wednesday why the chief health officer would not attend the hearing, Mr Foley said it was inappropriate.The minister said the hearings would probe the current budget, with senior departmental officials on hand to ­assist the inquiry.“All of the operational staff who spend the Department of Health’s substantial budget … billions of dollars … will be there to answer those questions,” he said.“People like the chief health officer are absolutely critical to that public health response.“But they’re not accountable in terms of what Public Accountants and Estimates are looking for.”The removal of Prof Sutton from the planned witness list sparked an urgent meeting on Wednesday, called by Liberal committee member James Newbury.“The most senior decision makers must be accountable for their decisions,” Mr Newbury said on social media.A state government spokeswoman said on Thursday Prof Sutton was not available to ­attend due to leave scheduled before the request to appear.Prof Sutton flew to Can­berra on Wednesday for a work-related dinner and awards event for the ­National Health and Medical Research Council, of which he is a member.A subsequent request to allow deputy chief health officer Allen Cheng to appear had been granted.“All relevant health officials, including the Department of Health secretary Euan Wallace and multiple department deputy secretaries – including two Covid-19 response deputy secretaries will be in ­attendance at the Health PAEC hearing,” the government spokeswoman said.“It is not standard practice for chief health officers to ­attend PAEC hearings pertaining to the state budget unless it is a Covid-specific hearing however, acting chief health officer Professor Allen Cheng will be in attendance.”Prof Sutton appeared ­before PAEC three times last year at inquiries into the pandemic response.