‘Bendigo through and through’: Jacinta Allan’s colleagues reflect on her rise to Premier

When Jacinta Allan became the youngest woman to ever win a seat in state parliament, aged 25, she was tipped as a future Premier. Those close to her reveal how she has realised that dream.

Jacinta Allan often rattles around her home town of Bendigo in an old faded-grey Ute.

Those close to Victoria’s next premier confide it’s filled with “junk” and has seen better days, but as a country-friendly car it does the job.

Friend and Speaker of the state parliament, Maree Edwards, said there was an occasional raised eyebrow from locals, who aren’t expecting the deputy premier to emerge.

Edwards, who has held the neighbouring electorate for more than a decade, said Allan’s connection to Bendigo played a key role in her political career and family life.

“She’s Bendigo through and through, in her heart and in her soul,” she said.

Allan’s connection to Bendigo played a key role in her political career and family life. Picture: Kris Reichl

Former Cabinet colleague Martin Pakula says she’s a “proper country Labor person”, using the old Melway map books that shaded inner city pages in red to explain further.

“Even though she’s from the Left (faction), she doesn’t have red-map sensibilities,” he said.

“She’s awake to them, she accommodates them, but that’s not her.
“She will be much more focused on things like economic aspiration and growth of regional communities; they’ll be the things that drive her.”

When she is sworn in on Tuesday as Victoria’s 49th premier, Allan will follow a recent trend of Labor leaders with strong country connections.

Allan is described as a ‘proper country Labor person’. Picture: Instagram

Steve Bracks grew up in Ballarat, John Brumby spent decades in Bendigo, and Daniel Andrews’s family was based in Wangaratta.

Perhaps more significantly, she’s the second female premier in Victoria’s history, after former mentor Joan Kirner.

Holding her first press conference as premier-elect on Wednesday, Allan spoke to the significance of what that means for young women around the state.

Former mentor and Bracks Government minister, Bob Cameron, said she had always pushed for equality and women’s rights.

“Women and men are equal, everyone gets a go, well she now exemplifies it,” he said.

Allan and her pet dogs. Picture: Brendan McCarthy

Allan started her career advocating Emily’s List harking back to one of her first local campaigns – against a lap-dance club being established in Bendigo in 1997.

After being preselected to run in 1999 for the ALP, in the lead-up to the election that saw Jeff Kennett tipped from office, Allan said publicly she didn’t fancy her chances.

She was successful, and became the youngest woman to ever win a seat in state parliament, at the tender age of 25.

Steve Bracks, who led the ALP team to minority government in 1999 and then to two subsequent election victories, said without Allan taking the seat off the Liberals “I wouldn’t have been premier”.

Allan became the youngest woman to ever win a seat in state parliament. Picture: Kris Reichl

He said Allan had impressed everyone with her drive and policy brain, and that when she was elevated to his cabinet alongside another 29-year-old, Tim Holding, “one of those two will go on to be premier”.

Bracks’ successor, John Brumby, said Allan was able to talk to people from all walks of life whether it be business figures, people in the regions, or unions.

“Her ability to relate and to tell the story of what the government is doing, all those communications skills are first rate,” he said.

Brumby, now La Trobe University chancellor, said Allan and her deputy, Ben Carroll, would be a great partnership, noting that they were both La Trobe graduates.

After almost 24 years in parliament, Allan has ruffled more than enough feathers to create some internal enemies.

Some MPs said she has never been great at playing internal politics or meddling in factions, but was recently told she needed to better engage with caucus to create better stability if made leader.

Several speak about her tendency to be dismissive of some colleagues, or talk down to them, while some talk about her being a “goody-two-shoes”.

Allan herself has talked about being studious and a bit of a know-it-all, describing herself in an interview with The Age newspaper as a “bit of a Hermione Granger” – a reference to the studious character in the Harry Potter book series.

Allan and her deputy, Ben Carroll, are both La Trobe graduates. Picture: Instagram

Her own education was done at St Joseph’s Quarry Hill Primary School in Bendigo and Catholic College Bendigo, which is now McAuley College.

She once told the Herald Sun that her studies “set the foundation for what I do every day” and described herself as a “pretty okay student because I loved learning”.

“I was probably too talkative in class at times for some of my teachers liking,” she said at the time.

Her Labor credentials stem back generations.

Her grandfather, Bill, was president of the Bendigo Trades Hall and her father, Peter, was on the board of trustees.

As a young minister in 2003 she married Ben Davis, who would go on to be the state secretary of the Australian Workers Union, but the pair separated later that decade.

Allan went on to marry Labor adviser Yorick Piper, and the couple have two children, Peggy and Cormac, as well as two dogs.

Edwards said family was very important to Allan, who was often ducking off from local events to go to school events of the basketball – which the premier-in-waiting also played when young.

Jacinta Allan has two children. Picture: Instagram

Her connection to the Bendigo Spirit basketball team is long, and father Peter is regarded as a “local legend” around the courts, according to chief executive of SEN – owner of the Spirit – Craig Hutchison.

“The Allan family is always at the 3-point line cheering on the team,” he said.

“She’s an incredible contributor to the community and club … I don’t think it will change when she’s premier.”

Sport and fitness are important to Allan, who is an Essendon supporter when it comes to the AFL but who often starts the day with a jog before getting stuck into work.

Allan served as deputy to Daniel Andrews. Picture: David Geraghty

As Transport Infrastructure Minister and the face of the Big Build, she has occasionally used her early morning exercise to scope out progress on a road or rail build, such as by jogging to the sites of the Metro Tunnel stations when in Melbourne.

Labor MPs and friends point to her relentless energy, with Cameron noting it hasn’t died off despite decades in parliament.

“She’s not worn out in the slightest”.

Pakula said it wasn’t all serious, all the time, remembering going to the Bendigo races and having a “bet and a drink”.

He said her positive energy was unrelenting, pointing to when Labor lost the 2010 state election and how he had his “chin on the floor” moping about the result until chatting to Allan on the phone who assured him the ALP could win government again in 2014.

He said she was a leader suited to the times.

“She’s always stripped down ready for battle,” he said.

“These are going to be difficult times and you need someone sort of indefatigable.”