The Victorian government has again refused to apologise for locking down Melbourne public housing tower residents before the state's devastating second wave of COVID-19.
In her fourth biennial report card, Ombudsman Deborah Glass noted some recommendations had not been actioned including an apology to the 3000 residents locked down across nine North Melbourne and Flemington public housing towers in July 2020.
"It still matters: we have been told residents felt disheartened and let down by the lack of an apology, and that it remains a barrier to rebuilding trust with the government," she said in the report, tabled in state parliament on Wednesday.
Premier Daniel Andrews is refusing to budge almost two years on from ombudsman's initial suggestion, saying the government was forced to make difficult decisions during the pandemic.
"None of them were made lightly and none of them were easy," he told reporters.
"And what I will not do is apologise for doing everything possible to save lives. That's what we did."
In her report published in December 2020, Ms Glass found Victoria breached residents' human rights by locking down the towers without notice on July 4.
Senior health officials agreed to the lockdown at a meeting that morning, although expected it would be another 36 hours before it would come into effect.
But Mr Andrews announced it would start immediately at a 4pm press conference, with many residents unaware of the order until police arrived outside.
Reflecting on the decision, the premier cited the lack of a COVID-19 vaccine at the time and insisted residents had the "full support" of the government.
"The reason we had lockdowns is because we didn't have a vaccine," he said.
