Contrary to media reports, ADF numbers in Victoria are falling
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CONTACT is surprised to report that Defence numbers committed to Victoria actually went down today – according to official figures – and contrary to the media reporting we heard/saw yesterday and today.
For several days, Defence has been reporting…
Victoria – 1509 personnel
- 369 ADF personnel are providing support to the Department of Health and Human Services contact tracing and community engagement efforts.
- 190 personnel are involved in medical testing initiatives.
- 175 personnel are supporting Victoria Police checkpoints.
- 159 personnel are assisting in other logistics roles, including the Police Assistance Line call centre in Ballarat.
- 23 personnel are providing planning and coordination support to the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre.
NOTING THAT; the maths on the dot points above amounts to 916 total ADF deployed to Victoria, which is explained by Defence as – Personnel in Joint Task Group headquarters, supporting roles, and those preparing for tasks are included in overall state-based figures but are not captured in the list of tasks.
In today’s update, however, the numbers have changed thus…
Victoria – 1128 personnel
- 381 ADF personnel are providing support to the Department of Health and Human Services contact tracing and community engagement efforts.
- 192 personnel are involved in medical testing initiatives.
- 175 personnel are supporting Victoria Police checkpoints.
- 150 personnel are assisting in other logistics roles, including the Police Assistance Line call centre in Ballarat.
- 30 personnel are providing planning and coordination support to the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre.
So, the total of ADF actually dedicated to Victoria has increased by just 12, to 928 – and the total in HQ, support roles or on standby has been reduced by more than 300.
The total number deployed to Victoria, as reported on Defence’s ‘Latest Updates’ page, has never actually climbed above 1000 – despite this story just six days ago claiming otherwise –– though, to be fair, that was the third official announcement of larger deployments by the minister, only to prove false on the ground (because of Victorian-government pushback).
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Any further info on the Victorian government pushback?
Hi JM. No ‘info’ as such, but easy to speculate that the government of Victoria is of a mindset that ‘troops on the street’ is a bad look politically – backed up by the fact that the federal government has officially announced three times a specific number of military will be sent to Victoria, only to have the official numbers reflect significantly lower facts. Also, while the federal government and the military are ready, willing and able, they cannot do it without State-government willingness.