'He's attempting to lie his way out of trouble': Ben Fordham rips into Dan Andrews for claiming he wasn't offered ADF help to guard hotel quarantine

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Radio broadcaster Ben Fordham has slammed Daniel Andrews for lying about Australian Defence Force support being offered to guard hotel quarantine travellers.

The Victorian premier claimed suggestions the army could have helped with Victoria's hotel quarantine program was 'fundamentally incorrect'. 

But federal Defence Minister Linda Reynolds insisted ADF support was offered to Victoria 'on multiple occasions'. 

She claimed help was offered on multiple occasions and the Victorian Government either refused it or withdrew their requests.

'It's completely false. Why would you tell a lie like that at a time like this?,' Fordham told his 2GB listeners on Wednesday morning. 

Radio 2GB broadcaster Ben Fordham (pictured) has accused Daniel Andrews for lying about Australian Defence Force support being offered to guard hotel quarantine

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews claimed suggestions the army could have helped with Victoria's hotel quarantine program was 'fundamentally incorrect'

'He's attempting to lie his way out of trouble. When you're in a hole, the worst thing you can do is keep digging.'

'He's been caught in a lie. He claimed he was never offered any left from the army when it came to his dud attempt at hotel quarantine.

'He ended up hiring bouncers through private security firms, and they were caught shagging [travellers] and sleeping on the job.

Fordham claimed Mr Andrews 'attempted to rewrite history' when he was grilled over his government's handling of the pandemic at the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee's COVID-19 Inquiry on Tuesday. 

'It is fundamentally incorrect to assert that there was hundreds of ADF staff on offer and somehow someone said no,' he said. 

'That's not, in my judgement, accurate. It's been provided in limited circumstances in NSW, not to provide security as such but to provide transportation from the airport to hotels.'

The disastrous scheme, where contracted security guards were hired to guard returned travellers, is believed to have caused the state's second coronavirus wave.

The outbreak has taken Victoria's death toll to 267 and led to the nation's toughest lockdown.

Fordham said Mr Andrews 'didn't want to admit he was in trouble'. 

'On June 24, Victoria requested 850 ADF personnel to help with hotel quarantine, but the very next day they changed their mind and said 'no, we're okay',' he said.

'If he could do a Back To The Future, he'd hop in the DeLorean and go back to March 28 and when he was offered help from the army, he would say 'yes'.

'Now he's attempting to lie his way out of trouble.'

But Victoria's Emergency Management Commissioner has backed Mr Andrews' version of events, claiming ADF support was never on offer

This image taken outside one of Melbourne's quarantine hotels appears to support the accounts of dozens of workers and returned travellers who say private security guards (pictured) failed to take the quarantine operation seriously before the virus escaped

Victorian Opposition Leader Michael O'Brien also accused the premier of lying to parliament and the state, labelling his comments a 'dishonest attempt to cover up' the scandal.

But Victoria's Emergency Management Commissioner has backed Mr Andrews' version of events, claiming ADF support was never on offer.

'I can confirm that the Australian Defence Force were involved in the initial planning of the hotel quarantine program,' the statement read.

'Representatives of the ADF participated in the Operation Soteria planning and coordination meetings on June 27 and March 28, 2020.

'During these discussions I did not seek nor did representatives of the ADF offer assistance as part of the hotel quarantine program.

The Commissioner said subsequent talks with the ADF on April 12 and 15 'didn't relate to ADF assistance as part of the program'.