Victoria hotel quarantine inquiry: systemic issues more urgent than individual blame

Victoria's second wave of coronavirus was caused by a mix of bad luck and bad management

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We have learned a lot from the judicial inquiry into hotel quarantine in Victoria, and the lessons should not be obscured by the fact that the failures were systemic and cultural, rather than the result of people acting corruptly or in bad faith.

Ministers, public servants and statutory officers have all minimised their own responsibility and some have had failures of memory we might see as convenient. But pinning guilt on individuals is of limited use.