A senior public servant who boasted about the success of the government’s bungled hotel quarantine program has been rewarded with a lucrative overseas posting. Global Victoria CEO Gonul Serbest was central to a damning leaked video that celebrated the success of the quarantine system, which led to the death of 801 Victorians. Ms Serbest said what an “extremely rewarding project it had been to work on” and said that she had “been thinking about this as one massive inbound super trade mission”. On Friday Treasurer Tim Pallas announced Ms Serbest had been appointed Victoria’s new Commissioner for Europe. She will be responsible for a new Paris office which will open next month. Mr Pallas said the additional European presence would drive new opportunities and raise the profile of Victorian businesses. Sectors including life sciences, technology, renewable energy and defence would be particular targets, he said. Invest Victoria chief Danni Jarrett will take over as the head of Global Victoria.
