Threat of warfare sullied Jacinta Allan’s smooth transition to leader

With the all-powerful Daniel Andrews out of the way, MPs and their factions may be emboldened to play up, posing a major challenge for Jacinta Allan.

The Allan government is off and running.

In unveiling her first cabinet, Jacinta Allan has sought to renew and refresh, yet keep some stability.

There are three obvious major takeaways from the reshuffle.

First, the new Premier is sticking to her guns on Victoria’s massive infrastructure agenda – Suburban Rail Loop and all.

Jacinta Allan has sought to renew and refresh, yet keep some stability. Picture: David Crosling

Amid constant calls from industry and financial experts for the project to be scrapped, the government is refusing to back down.

It comes with a minimum $35bn price tag – about $120bn for the completed loop – but it’s been a pet project of Allan’s and is clearly here to stay.

Secondly, she is committed to delivering the promised 800,000 new homes over the next decade.

It will mean 219 new homes being delivered every day for 10 years, a massive task that won’t be without its challenges. Splitting the work across two ministries – Housing and Precincts – is testament to that fact.

The new cabinet at the swearing-in ceremony at Government House on Monday. Picture: David Crosling

And third, the new Premier wants children to be a focus of her government’s social policy reforms.

The new policy priority is clear in appointing a Minister for Children to work across government to support children and families. It will include looking after the comprehensive kinder and pre-prep programs.

The stability comes in the finance and justice portfolios. With huge justice changes on the horizon – including relaxed bail laws, raising the age of criminal responsibility and the abolition of public drunkenness crimes – it makes sense to limit changes to those responsible for such reforms.

But questions may be asked about whether an Allan government will do more to address Victoria’s rising debt.

Allan is sticking to her guns on Victoria’s massive infrastructure agenda – Suburban Rail Loop and all. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

Especially leaving in charge a treasurer who, according to multiple Labor sources, has made no secret of his desire to exit politics. After nine budgets, and with the light at the end of the fiscal tunnel moving further and further away, it’s easy to understand why.

It might have been smart to move Tim Pallas on, given he is the same treasurer who presided over the state’s accounts as our debt spiralled upwards.

There is one significant change, though, that might foreshadow a tightening of the purse strings.

Allan has limited her cabinet’s expenditure review committee to just four people: herself, Pallas, Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes and assistant treasurer Danny Pearson.

It could help scale back spending as fewer people around the table means fewer people jostling for funding.

Tim Pallas has made no secret of his desire to exit politics, according to multiple Labor sources. Picture: David Geraghty

Conceivably, harder decisions can be made. The scaling back has, though, raised eyebrows.

Particularly the removal of the deputy premier, now Ben Carroll, from the committee, a move some viewed as reflecting a lack of unity in cabinet. The deputy premier hasn’t always been on the committee, such as in the first term of the Andrews government. But in recent years the deputy has been a permanent fixture on the committee responsible for reviewing funding and policy commitments.

Keeping the team united, and battling the perception that it’s not, are going to be challenges for Allan.

The threat of warfare that sullied the smooth transition to her as leader last week will remain constant without the shadow of the all-powerful Daniel Andrews looming over the Labor caucus.

With Andrews out of the way, and gone with him the fierce discipline he demanded, MPs and their factions may be emboldened to play up.

Allan will also have to repair what sources describe as a fractured relationship between the Premier’s office and the ALP’s Victorian headquarters. A review into last year’s state election cited concerns about a culture of secrecy that kept critical information from key Labor officials.

Allan has said she wants a more open style of government, without power necessarily centralised through her office.

This implies ministers will be free to do their jobs, without running everything through her office. It will be, insiders hope, a more respectful and collegiate approach.

Allan says she wants a more open style of government. Picture: David Crosling

Perhaps her biggest challenge will be building her own brand. Whether he was loved or loathed, Victorians knew Daniel Andrews and what he stood for. With his massive social media following, Andrews could speak directly to more than one million Victorians daily. The combined reach of every Labor MP in the Victorian parliament right now does not come close to that.

With her parliament set to return on Tuesday, Allan will be put through her paces for the first time as Premier.

Not acting, not deputy, not premier-in-waiting. There will be no more back-up, because the buck will stop with her.

With an eye on November 2026, she will be hoping her cabinet reshuffle has refreshed the government enough to quell the third-term syndrome that so often befalls longstanding regimes.

If so, she will have a chance to become the first internal successor to a Victorian premier in 50 years not to lose the subsequent election.

Government insiders say Daniel Andrews used to remark about his government “they’re nothing without me”.

We’re about to find out.

Originally published as Threat of warfare sullied Jacinta Allan’s smooth transition to leader