A years-long class action linked to Dan Andrews' disastrous hotel quarantine program has been settled, with taxpayers set to foot the bill of more than $50million.
Brought by over 1,000 business owners, the aim of the action is to force the government to cover losses suffered during the state's July 2020 lockdown.
The lockdown, the state's second, was triggered after the government's quarantine hotels failed to contain Covid infections.
An inquiry later found poor health controls were in place at the hotels and the program was responsible for the deaths of 768 people and 18,000 infections.
A trial was due to begin in the Supreme Court on Tuesday but the suit, led by legal firm Quinn Emanuel, quietly updated its website this week noting a change.
In an 'important update', it said: 'The start date for the trial has been adjourned until Monday, 16 March 2026.
'We will provide a further update to group members ahead of that date. We thank you for your continued support.'
Several legal and government sources told the Herald Sun on Tuesday the suit had been resolved after years of fraught negotiations, meaning the case will not go to trial.
Some claimed a settlement deal would cost Victoria up to $50million.
It was claimed Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan would pocket about 30 per cent - a multi-million dollar sum from the final amount, as per the class action agreement.
In February, it was revealed by The Sydney Morning Herald the state was due to spend approximately $36million of taxpayer money on its defence during the case.
Daily Mail has contacted the Victorian government for comment.
Partner of Quinn Emanuel's Sydney office, Damian Scattini, who is leading the class action, confirmed the matter was adjourned to March 16, adding: 'There's nothing that I can add to that.'
The businesses involved in the action are seeking damages after Covid escaped from the Rydges and Stamford Plaza hotels, leading to stage 3 and 4 restrictions.
They claimed a family of four detained at the Rydges infected a hotel worker and private security staff.
Those infected did not wear masks or practise hand hygiene, with the family's illness later epidemiologically linked to eight workers and nine of their contacts.
In early June at the Stamford Plaza, it is claimed a traveller and a couple spread the virus to security guards.
It then spread to 26 workers, a nurse and 19 other contacts.
The suit by over 1000 Victorian businesses aims to force the government to cover losses suffered by them during the state's July 2020 Covid-19 lockdown
The businesses bringing the class action have said that, by mid-August 2020, genomic sequencing showed clustering of about 75 per cent of community infections with the quarantine hotel infections.
They say that 'had the (State of Victoria) conducted themselves prudently to the appropriate standard, transmission at each hotel would not have occurred'.
The State of Victoria had applied to have the suit dismissed, but that was refused in August 2022 by Justice John Dixon.
Melburnians were released from their sixth lockdown in October 2021, with the state's long lockdowns leading to then-Premier Daniel Andrews being dubbed 'Dictator Dan'.
A month before, the health and safety watchdog charged Victoria's health department with dozens of breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
WorkSafe had also charged the Department of Health in September 2021 with 58 breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety Act after a 15-month investigation into the bungled system.
But the case was abandoned just days before trial after the County Court dismissed evidence uncovered during a separate judicial inquiry.