Albo, Bracks and Brumby can all be punchlines in Dan’s world

Daniel Andrews has benefited from being a man of his word but after killing off his own contract to host the Commonwealth Games, even faithful Labor MPs have baulked at his hubris.

Premier Daniel Andrews at a press conference announcing that Victoria would no longer host the Commonwealth Games. Picture: AAP

There is a fine line in politics between having the courage of your convictions, and drinking your own bath water.

While Premier Daniel Andrews occasionally sips from a deep pool of social media praise, he has benefited from being a man of his word.

This week blurred that fine line like never before, after he killed off his own contract to host the Commonwealth Games, blaming cost blowouts.

After Victoria burst out of the blocks to secure the event, it quickly took the guise of a relay runner fumbling a sweaty baton.

After telling voters at the state election they could have it all under a Labor government – attacking the opposition for promising to rein in largesse and cut its $35bn train line from Cheltenham to Box Hill – it was now clear that was just spin.

There is a fine line in politics between having the courage of your convictions, and drinking your own bath water. Picture: AAP

Labor MPs fell in behind their leader and his minister for Commonwealth Games Delivery and irony, Jacinta Allan, after they got over the shock of the decision. One MP expressed confidence in Allan who they said could turn a “s--- sandwich into ice cream”.

Andrews batted away questions about the blowout he used to justify his decision, but ratcheted up a Games price tag from $6bn in a press release to $7bn or more in the following breath.

“I’ve made a lot of difficult calls, a lot of difficult decisions in this job. This is not one of them,” he deadpanned on Tuesday.

In my opinion, Andrews’ trademark smirks and put-downs of critics have always bolstered his authority as Premier. Many voters see it as a sign of strength.

But Labor MPs whisper about new levels of haughtiness since he led them to a third state election win. They point to his Keating-esque jokes about the Albanese government being a “majority without an agenda”.

Even Labor icon Steve Bracks gets a touch-up, with the Premier “joking” that Bracksy never won three elections – inferring the 1999 election that ended Jeff Kennett’s rule was a draw.

At a Labor caucus retreat early this year, John Brumby was also brought down a peg as Andrews told stunned first-term MPs the former premier was captured by bureaucracy in 2010 and things didn’t end well.

Andrews’ internal authority is now at a point that he has anointed a successor as premier: Allan. The longer Andrews stays in the job and casually whacks those who blazed a path for him, the more some colleagues could become uneasy about his succession plan.

Matt Johnston is the Herald Sun major projects editor