THE former Chief Health Officer of Victoria, Brett Sutton, has stated in a podcast that he and the government we worked for made “huge mistakes” during the Covid pandemic response.
The confession appears to show a repentant Sutton admitting that he personally made “bad decisions”, although people are questioning whether he will be made properly accountable for his actions. They also noted there was no clear apology.
Sutton stated in the podcast interview earlier this month that many strict COVID-19 measures, including the world’s longest lockdowns totaling 262 days in Melbourne from 2020 to 2021, were probably never necessary due to outdated understanding of the virus’s airborne transmission.
Freedom of Information documents released in April 2025 confirm the August 2020 curfew was a political decision by the Andrews government, not based on medical advice from Sutton or experts.
Sutton acknowledged the human and economic impacts, such as business closures and mental health crises, but offered no apology amid the public calls for accountability.
Richard Neagle’s comments on X reflected the continuing public resentment over the way Victorians were treated during Covid.
“So he has not even said what he is sorry for. Is he sorry for the tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets , verbal abuse and ridicule and sacking of those who refused the experimental jab; destroying businesses, jobs and careers, closing down churches, beaches and playgrounds?”
Dr Mark Hobart, the Melbourne doctor shut down by the Australian Medical Board because he “illegally” exempted 1,797 patients from mandated vaccines, administered Ivermectin and refused to hand over patient information, noted that Sutton said there never was medical evidence for the lockdowns and wished he had never signed up for the job.
Dr Hobart’s clinic at Sunshine in western Melbourne, remains closed. But it is now clear that the reasons cited for his deregistration were bogus – as confirmed by none other than the former Chief Health Officer himself.
In June this year, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal rejected attempts by Dr Hobart to get a ruling against the medical authorities who seized his patients’ files. Dr Hobart’s lawyer described it as an “egregious abuse of power”.
VCAT was expected to reconvene later in the year to test whether Dr Hobart is “a danger to the public”. Given Sutton’s confession, we would expect allegations against Dr Hobart as a “danger” to be shown as spurious because unlike Victorian health authorities, he harmed no-one.
Dr Sanjeev Sahblok, a former high-level Indian public servant, said on X: “The rascal (Sutton) lied to us from day one. And when I asked him questions he blocked me on Twitter. No mercy for these crooks and criminals. Ever.”
Dr Sahblok sats medical practitioners and the public can consider reporting Dr Sutton (MED0001644375) to AHPRA for potentially innumerable breaches of the law and his duties, thus posing a risk to public health. Illustrative breaches below.
Craig Kelly also joined in the discussion: “Given that Victoria has recorded 8,873 excess deaths (12.3%) above normal from January 2022 to September 2023, it should be inconceivable that one of Dan Andrews senior henchmen, Brett “Dr Death” Sutton could be considered for any award.
“It was under Dr Death’s reign that human rights of Victorians were abused, billions in Victorian State government debt was run up, life-saving medicines were blocked, and the Victorian police were given free license to bash Victorians.
“Now that it is clearly recognised that lockdowns during Covid were a catastrophic mistake – Brett ‘Dr Death’ Sutton should hand-back his Australia Day award and apologise.”
Dr Tau Braun, a former clinical psychologist who advises and trains educational institutions, healthcare facilities, corporations (including Fortune 100 and 500 companies), and both state and federal government organizations in violence prevention strategies and crisis response, also had harsh comments on the confession.
“This moral lackey is now the Director at CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, leading the Health and Biosecurity Research Unit, comprising over 350 researchers and support staff in areas of digital health, human health and plant, animal and environmental biosecurity,” he noted.
