Andrews exploits divided factions to install his pick for deputy

Premier Daniel Andrews has exploited divisions in his party to install Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan as Victoria’s next deputy premier and his heir apparent.

In a further display of his control over the make-up of the ministry, the premier also defied party processes and rejected a push by members of his Socialist Left caucus for a democratic ballot to choose their new ministers.

Daniel Andrews talks to the media about his new leadership team.Credit: Justin McManus

Labor MPs will meet on Saturday morning to pick the five new ministers to enter cabinet and confirm the deputy leader after senior government ministers James Merlino, Martin Foley, Lisa Neville, Martin Pakula announced on Friday they would step down from cabinet immediately, and leave politics at the next state election. Richard Wynne announced his retirement last year, but will join his four colleagues and leave the ministry.

“[The retiring ministers] are not only great friends, but people who have devoted so much of their working lives to making our state fairer and stronger,” Andrews said.

“But when the time is right and when you know, this is the right decision to make in the interest of not just the government but in the interest of our state.”

A total of 19 Labor MPs – a quarter of the caucus – have either quit, or been dumped, from parliament during this term of government.

(L-R) James Merlino and Martin Foley have announced they will retire, Lisa Neville and Martin Pakula are tipped to follow suit on Friday.

Ben Carroll, Lily D’Ambrosio, Natalie Hutchins, Danny Pearson and Mary-Anne Thomas have been promoted to become part of the senior leadership team, joining Tim Pallas, Jacinta Allan and Jaclyn Symes. More than half the leadership team will be women.

Thomas will be elevated into health, becoming the state’s fourth health minister in four years, while Hutchins will take on education – two of the Labor government’s most important portfolios.

Andrews said his new senior leadership team would recommend to caucus on Saturday that Allan take the deputy role, and that she was the only candidate he was aware of.

Under Labor convention, the deputy role is usually held by an MP from a different faction to the premier, but that has not always been the case. Steve Bracks and his deputy, John Brumby, were both from the Right, as was Brumby and his deputy, Rob Hulls.

Allan said it was important the process take its course but added: “I can say I’m really humbled and grateful for the support from my colleagues around me, and I particularly thank the premier for his support”.

She said Merlino had set a high benchmark for the role of deputy, praising his “calmness and his unflappable approach”.

But the premier’s intervention has angered Labor MPs and members.

Andrews pulled off a dramatic coup after exploiting internal rivalries of the Right, and rewarded factions with promotions if they acquiesced to his demands to install Allan, whom he has seen as his successor despite the senior minister not having the majority support of caucus.

The Right held meetings throughout Thursday to pick their candidate for the deputy, but members were unable to resolve their differences. The inability to come to a resolution was exacerbated by Andrews’ promises to different elements of the Right, as well as the Socialist Left, in exchange for their support of Allan, according to multiple sources aware of the dealings but not authorised to speak publicly.

Pallas, billing himself as the most senior member of the Right, stepped up to the lectern at Friday morning’s press conference and urged his colleagues to support Allan. The treasurer usually stays out of factional machinations.

“It really befalls to me, as the senior minister for the Right, to make it very clear that I am a very strong supporter of Jacinta Allan to be the deputy premier,” he said.

“I say that because I’ve had the opportunity to work with her for over two decades … she’s a passionate advocate in the parliament for her community. She will be a great demonstration, I believe, of this government’s renewal but also its commitment.”

Labor’s Right faction has been weakened since the dumping of powerbroker Adem Somyurek. Elements of the Right, including the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association, and former federal senator Stephen Conroy’s faction, signed a stability pact with the Socialist Left earlier this year.

The Australian Workers’ Union and Somyurek’s Moderates faction, both from the Right, were left out of the deal. Seven sitting MPs aligned the two groups were replaced during the preselection process, as part of a factional purge by candidates aligned to the SDA and Conroy.

However, Labor figures are warning Andrews and Allan that the Right will be far more united after the November election, and their influence over ministries and senior leadership positions will be diminished.

“I’m not saying they will be axed, but things will change in November, and just because JA [Jacinta Allan] has been elected as deputy it does not mean she will automatically become leader,” one Right source said.

“The Right will be far more united after November and the opportunity for him [Andrews] to pick off the Right and exploit us will reduce. His influence will wane.”

Steve Dimopolous, Colin Brooks and Lizzie Blandthorn, from the Right, are expected to be elevated into cabinet. Some sources have suggested Blandthorn, part of Merlino’s SDA faction whose power has increased since the stability pact, could also replace Allan as leader of the lower house.

There was a push by some Left Labor MPs for a ballot to choose their two replacements, but the premier – through his intermediaries – rejected calls for the democratic process and instead told MPs that Harriet Shing and Sonya Kilkenny will enter the ministry, according to multiple Labor sources.

Under Labor’s highly factionalised party structure, factions are allotted a specific number of spots depending on how many MPs each grouping had, and the premier appoints the portfolios.

There will be a major reshuffle of cabinet, which Andrews is expected to announce in coming days, and a swearing-in on Monday or Tuesday. Although Andrews did not say who he wanted as Labor’s candidates in Monbulk, Albert Park, Bellarine and the South Eastern Metropolitan Region, he said he had been clear about his record on wanting more women in parliament.

Daniel Andrews has praised his outgoing deputy James Merlino.Credit: Justin McManus

Andrews paid tribute to departing ministers Merlino, Foley, Neville, Pakula and Wynne, and said he could never repay the loyalty and friendship of his long-time deputy.

“No premier could ask for a better deputy than James Merlino,” Andrews said.

“He’s a person of courage and conviction. He’s defined not just by his work … but he’s defined by his character, his decency, his hard work, his determination to stand up for his local community and for everybody across our community who needs a champion.”

Although Merlino, and the new senior leadership team, were at Friday morning’s press conference, Neville, Foley and Pakula were noticeably absent to avoid a visual representation of the loss of the seven decades of parliamentary experience they have between them.

Merlino paid tribute to his family, saying they had sacrificed a lot to support his political career over the past 20 years. Foley thanked his wife and soul mate Sharon Duff, and said now was the time to attempt to repay his family for all they have done.

Neville indicated she wanted to continue serving in politics, but her battle with Crohn’s disease meant she could no longer able to commit to being a minister or local member for another term. Pakula said he knew it was time to step down and away from the intensity of politics.

Ben Carroll will assume responsibility as coordinating minister for the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions. Lily D’Ambrosio will become coordinating minister for the Department of Environment, Land, Planning and Water. Natalie Hutchins will become co-ordinating minister for the Department of Education and Training. Danny Pearson will become co-ordinating minister for the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing. Mary-Anne Thomas will become co-ordinating minister for the Department of Health.

Paul Strangio, a professor of politics at Monash University, said Allan’s heir-apparent status may allow Labor to mitigate the fact that some voters may start to turn away from a government seeking 12 years in office.

“Unquestionably, Andrews will be the focal point of that problem for Labor,” Strangio said.

“Front and centre in everything the government does, and his prominence especially elevated during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a risk that Andrews will have worn out his welcome with the public. They will hanker for life after Andrews.

“The hardest thing for an ageing government is to remake itself. On balance, this week’s developments in Spring Street may represent the first step to Labor performing that elusive feat.”

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