It comes after the Herald Sun revealed that Covid Commander Jeroen Weimar is set to take charge of 2026 regional event.Mr Weimar is expected to be announced as the chief of the event’s organising committee and will be responsible for co-ordinating the Games’ return to Victoria.But the appointment, tipped to be worth more than $500,000 a year, has raised the eyebrows of Victoria’s sporting community.“He, alongside Brett Sutton and Daniel Andrews, lectured us for two years and tried to kill off sport in this state,” one sporting insider said.“I’m not sure sport wants him anywhere near the Games. Especially when you look at him, and his experience.”In his role as Covid Response Commander Mr Weimar was a fierce defender of ongoing government restrictions, including the controversial closure of children’s playgrounds.In his previous role as Department of Transport head of Transport Services Mr Weimar also warned Victorians against the dangers of recreational boating.“Recreational boating is not an essential activity – I urge everyone to stay home and keep off the water to keep everyone safe,” he said in April 2020.“I know this is hard, but all of us can help slow the spread of coronavirus.”Sources familiar with the pending appointment questioned Mr Weimar’s experience for the role.“It looks as though it’s been handed to someone as a reward,” one said.“Time will tell, he might be the greatest logistics manager on the planet, but he’s starting from a long way behind and will want to do a good job in his first meeting.”However, on Friday Mr Pakula said no official appointments relating to the event had yet been made, but credited Mr Weimar as an “incredibly dedicated and selfless” public servant. “Jeroen Weimar was responsible for the logistics of testing and vaccination, and in that regard, I’d stack his record up against many others, including the Commonwealth,” he said.“He’s a public servant of many, many years standing in both the UK and Australia, working in transport, health and logistics. “I just think he’s been an incredibly dedicated, selfless public servant with an expertise in logistics.”Mr Pakula said coming from a sporting background wasn’t a necessity for the job. “I don’t think people with sporting backgrounds should be precluded and I don’t think they’re essential,” he said. “I think you’ve got to think about what’s involved in putting a Commonwealth games together. “Yes, it’s about the sport but it’s also building the housing. It’s about building the venues. It’s about organising the teams and the transport and the logistics. “There’s a range of skills that are important and you’re not going to find someone who has had an involvement in all of those different aspects of public life. “So someone with a sporting background might be appropriate. Someone from a logistic background might be appropriate, someone from the business community might be appropriate and indeed someone who has got a long career in the public service more generally might be appropriate. “That will all get sorted out in the wash.” The appointment has been met with criticism from sporting insiders, who accused Mr Weimar of having tried to “kill off sport in this state” throughout Victoria’s numerous lockdowns. Mr Pakula hit out at the quoted insider, labelling the comments as a “grossly unfair” attack on the bureaucrat. “I’m not surprised that person decided to keep their their name anonymous because it was frankly a weak and incorrect attack on someone who didn’t deserve it,” he said. “(It was) terribly unfair and not warranted given the extraordinary effort that he put in to get Victorians tested.”Mr Pakula said an official announcement on appointment on the role would be made soon, but said current reports were “speculative”. “We’ve got four years, we’ve got to get going,” he said. “We don’t have the normal seven years to get the Games all together. There’s a lot to do in regional Victoria. “I would think key appointments are not far off. “I am not going to get into the decision about who may or might not be in that role, or any other role in relation to the Comm Games until those roles are filled and announcements are made.”The appointment has been kept a closely guarded secret but is tipped to be announced as early as next week.It is understood to be one of a number of Labor-aligned appointments to the Games.Victoria will host a decentralised 2026 Commonwealth Games with competition in the 16 sports confirmed so far to take place in Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat and Gippsland.Regional stadiums and grounds are expected to be upgraded, while the government will invest in housing to meet the Games’ accommodation requirements.Mr Weimar will be responsible for organising the logistics of the first Commonwealth Games not to be held in one host city.His departure from the Department of Health was announced to staff last week.In an email to staff Department of Health secretary Euan Wallace praised Mr Weimar’s “extraordinary” efforts in the role.“It is hard to imagine ourselves without the fast-talking, and even faster-thinking Dutch-born, UK-raised former Department of Transport and VicRoads CEO at the helm of the Covid response,” Mr Wallace said.“Jeroen’s achievements in the Covid Commander role – from centralising and digitising contact tracing, to building deep and enduring networks into the culturally and linguistically communities most affected by the pandemic – have been extraordinary.“For months now Jeroen has been managing our transition from emergency response to Covid-normal. He has helped embed the knowledge and expertise to keep Victorians safe and well against Covid into the mainstream of our department.”Deputy Secretary for Public Health Professor Zoe Wainer will take over Mr Weimar’s Covid command role.
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