Victoria's health minister Jenny Mikakos heard that security guards would man hotel quarantine two months before she recalled finding out, a video appears to show.
At an inquiry into the bungled quarantine program on Thursday, Ms Mikakos said 'to the best of her recollection' she did not know private guards were enforcing the scheme until late May when the Rydges hotel suffered a coronavirus outbreak.
But a video of a press conference on 29 March - two days after the quarantine scheme was announced - shows Ms Mikakos standing alongside jobs minister Martin Pakula as he said: 'Passengers returning will now undergo mandatory two-week quarantine at those Melbourne hotels with security guards in place.'
The Victorian government has faced criticism for not accepting ADF troops and instead using private security guards to man hotel quarantine
In her statement to the inquiry, Ms Mikakos wrote: 'I believe I first became aware of the use of private security guards... after the Rydges outbreak occurred in late May 2020.'
Speaking at the inquiry on Thursday she added: 'That's to the best of my recollection… because I would have had no reason to turn my mind to issues around security guards until we had that first case and the first outbreak at the Rydges hotel.'
Opposition MPs have accused Ms Mikakos of lying, including shadow housing minister Tim Smith who said she 'is a liar and must go'.
Asked if the video contradicts Ms Mikakos' evidence to the inquiry, her spokesman told Daily Mail Australia: 'The Minister categorically denies that she has misled the Board in any way and has sought leave to provide information to the Board to that effect.'
On Friday Premier Daniel Andrews told the inquiry he regarded Ms Mikakos 'accountable' for the hotel quarantine program.
The virus escaped from hotel quarantine in late May and sparked the state's second wave which has seen more than 700 deaths.
The Victorian government has faced criticism for not accepting ADF troops and instead using private security guards, some of whom flouted social distancing rules and failed to properly wear PPE, witnesses told the inquiry.
At an inquiry in the bungled quarantine program on Thursday, Ms Mikakos (pictured taking the oath) recalled she did not know private guards were enforcing the scheme until late May
A Four Corners investigation showed some hotel security guards fell fast asleep in the corridor of an undisclosed Melbourne hotel
Ms Mikakos said she was 'not part of the decision-making process' to use private security guards.
In August the inquiry heard the decision to use private guards was made in an Emergency Management Victoria meeting at 4.30pm on 27 March.
The state government agency, established in 2014, is led by top cop Andrew Crisp.
Victorian jobs department secretary Simon Phemister said his team was told to hire security firms to run the quarantine operation after that meeting.
Mr Paukula said his department was not responsible for the decision and questions about it need to be directed to Commissioner Crisp.
Mr Crisp told the meeting that private security would man the hotels without troops, the inquiry heard.
'At this stage… at this particular point in time, we certainly don't see the need for boots on the ground for this particular operation,' he told the meeting, according to a recording heard at the inquiry in August.
A video of a press conference on 29 March - two days after the quarantine scheme was announced - shows Ms Mikakos standing alongside jobs minister Martin Pakula as he said: 'Passengers returning will now undergo mandatory two-week quarantine at those Melbourne hotels with security guards in place'
