Andrews boosts internal grip on power, two ministers in firing line for demotion

Premier Daniel Andrews has scored a major post-election win with a group of MPs joining his Socialist Left faction, strengthening his grip on government and giving his group a majority within state Labor.

A group of seven MPs from the ALP’s Right faction – including Treasurer Tim Pallas and Major Events Minister Steve Dimopoulos – has shifted to the Left.

Fresh from an election victory on Saturday, Daniel Andrews has strengthened his internal grip on power. Credit: Getty

The major factional realignment represents a blow to the Australian Workers Union component of the right and threatens the group’s cabinet ministers: Natalie Hutchins, Colin Brooks, Danny Pearson, Jaclyn Symes and Shaun Leane.

These ministers’ positions were supported by the votes of the MPs who have defected, meaning this group within the Right are now entitled to one, or perhaps two, cabinet positions. It is not clear how many will be demoted, and any wholesale change could stir post-election disunity in the party.

Brooks and Leane are the two most likely ministers in the firing line for a demotion. Following a major reshuffle in June prompted by the resignation of five senior ministers, Andrews promoted Hutchins, Symes and Pearson into the senior leadership team.

“The AWU now has five MPs and five ministers,” one Right Labor source said. “[Daniel] Andrews has just completely f---ed them.”

The right has been divided for years. Allies of the defecting MPs were pushed out of parliament in a factional purge last year. Joining the left would protect them from any similar moves.

A key driver of the change is the discontent of defecting MPs with the dominant Right faction forces. The frustrated MPs felt they would contribute more to the government and secure future promotions in a different group.

It also means the premier, deputy premier and treasurer are all from the left, which is unusual.

Victorian ministers Shaun Leane and Colin Brooks could be demoted following internal factional moves within the Victorian Labor Party.Credit: Eddie Jim; AAP

Three MPs aligned with disgraced former Labor MP Adem Somyurek’s Moderates faction – Katie Hall, Tim Richardson and Meng Tak – have also defected to the Left, leaving the AWU exposed as the only group left out of the stability deal inked in the aftermath of Somyurek’s branch stacking scandal.

Andrews is preparing to unveil the fresh make-up of his cabinet as early as Friday, with St Albans MP Natalie Suleyman and Northern Metropolitan Region representative Enver Erdogan widely tipped to be elevated to the frontbench.

Upper house MP Jaala Pulford announced her resignation from politics a few weeks before the election, leaving the government with one vacancy on its frontbench.

Her former colleague in the Legislative Council, Shaun Leane, is tipped to move out of cabinet and make way for Erdogan, who is part of the shop workers’ union.

The dominant Right faction grouping – made up of the Transport Workers Union, shoppies union and MPs aligned with Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles – has gained new MPs since the election, and will push for up to three new cabinet positions.

The smaller right-wing group that splintered included the National Union of Workers, Moderates and the AWU. Earlier this year there was an unsuccessful push for the NUW to join the larger right faction which includes the shoppies union.

A signal of how close Pallas and the NUW are to the Left occurred when he publicly backed Allan to become deputy premier earlier this year, at the same time as other sections of the Right were maneuvering to block her elevation.

The movement of MPs means the left faction has a clear majority within the caucus, which could diminish resistance in a potential scenario in which Andrews seeks a leadership transition to deputy premier Jacinta Allan some time during this term. The premier has said publicly he will serve a full term, but colleagues speculate he will quit before the 2026 election.

The factional switch may also bolster the power of the left faction at the party’s next major conference where policies are debated and agreed upon.

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