Daniel Andrews intends to lead Victoria into 2022 state election

Daniel Andrews has finally addressed rumours about his future in politics and just who will lead Labor into the 2022 state election.

Premier Daniel Andrews has declared he has never been fitter and hopes to lead Victoria well beyond the 2022 election, saying he has “unfinished business”.

Returning to work 111 days after fracturing his spine and requiring intensive care to support his breathing, Mr Andrews said his trauma had given him a new perspective and heightened focus.

In an exclusive interview, the 48-year-old told the Herald Sun: “I am fitter and healthier and stronger and more committed. I have done the hard work to get well to get back — not to get well and to cut and run.

“You get a new-found perspective on what is important. You see that there is a lot more noise, there’s a lot more nonsense that is of no concern. You distil it all down, you have a plan, what you have got to do — hard work and outcomes.

“I think I’ve always been pretty good at that, by not getting distracted by the nonsense of politics and the nonsense of it all. I think I have a heightened ability to do that now.

“I have a lot of unfinished business, a lot of things we have to finish, a lot of things we have to complete.”

Daniel Andrews took to social media on Sunday afternoon to detail the events that led to his fall. Picture: Facebook.

Mr Andrews said he had little input into the running of the state while he was recovering from the March 9 accident in Sorento.

While facing several major challenges — including delivering the 2021-22 State Budget, locking Victoria down for a fourth time and facing off against the federal government over vaccines and quarantine centre plans — Acting Premier James Merlino frequently told reporters he was in regular contact with Mr Andrews.

But Mr Andrews said he remained hands-off, and that Mr Merlino had done a “fantastic job”.

“I am very grateful to him, very grateful to Megan and their family because they wouldn’t have expected they would have to do this for three or four months but it has been a pretty busy time,” Mr Andrews said.

“There is nothing easy about the job, there is nothing easy about the job in 2020 or 2021.

“We talked a bit, particularly about the bigger things. But you don’t want to be meddling. You are either off or on. You can’t be half on leave.

“That wasn’t easy because you have views on everything but, if you were going to do it, you have to do it properly.

“He needed the authority and the room to do the job and that is what he got from me. He would want to check on a few things and we would routinely, but it wasn’t like we were on the phone every day.”

The Premier looks on as Mr Merlino speaks to the media during a press conference in Melbourne earlier this year. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Daniel Pockett

Although he was consulted during the process to issue last month’s lockdown, Mr Andrews said the decisions were made by the public health team and the cabinet, led by Mr Merlino.

“There is a process where the chief health officer provides advice on the orders that he thinks have to be made,” Mr Andrews said.

“There were (big decisions) and I was consulted along the way. It was more a courtesy of keeping me informed of things rather than what should we do.”

Now undertaking an exercise regimen of walking 10km each night and continuing personal training with wife Cath to build up his upper body and take the pressure of his damaged spine, Mr Andrews said most of his health issues were behind him.

He said he was returning to the top job with long-term goals in mind, intending to lead Victoria well beyond the November 2022 state election.

“We are running to win next year, to do the job as well as we can between now and then. Then it will be a matter for the Victorians to choose us to continue to implement a positive plan,” he said.

ANDREWS ATTACKS ‘GUTTER’ POLITICS OVER INJURY RUMOURS

A host of unsubstantiated theories regarding the circumstances around Daniel Andrews’ fall have been dismissed by the Premier as “vile stories”.

Opening up to condemn a series of rumours about the cause of his serious spinal injuries, Mr Andrews told the Herald Sun the “fiction” was damaging.

“I would hope we don’t see this kind of conspiracy stuff — these vile stories that are put around — it is very hurtful,” Mr Andrews said. “Also, it is just not the way we do things.

“I am used to the rough and tumble of it. It is probably harder on spouses and kids and families than it is on the actual person involved.”

As Mr Andrews maintained his privacy during a four-month recovery from a spinal fracture, several stories were circulated suggesting the Premier was covering up the cause of his injuries. The Victorian Liberals added fuel to the fire on June 7, when Opposition Treasury spokeswoman Louise Staley issued a press release listing 12 questions she said the government should answer about the circumstances of Mr Andrews’ injury.

While the Premier did not hold all members of the Opposition accountable for the attacks, Mr Andrews said the spreading of conspiracy theories marked a new low in Australian politics.

“We have seen some of the worst politics in the last little while, and you would hope that kind of low-road gutter stuff doesn’t infect the way politics works here,” he said.

“That is American-style politics, we don’t need that.

“There is too much at stake, there is too much to do there are too many people counting on you to get drawn into that.

“But it is not a pleasant thing and I just sincerely hope that we don’t see that brand of discourse become a bigger part of the way politics works here.”

Mr Andrews also revealed he received a huge boost when former Liberal premier Ted Baillieu — who continues to suffer complications from a spinal injury he suffered playing rugby decades ago — sent him a text message the day of his accident that helped drive his recovery.

Andrews says a message from former premier Ted Baillieu helped in a difficult time. Picture: Tim Carrafa

“I hold Ted in very high regard as a person. He sent me a beautiful text message saying ‘40 years ago I had an injury not too dissimilar to yours, I didn’t recover properly and now today I have chronic pain. You have to do this and do it properly’.

“As a former premier, as a former politician, as a human, he was reaching out and it was a very kind and meaningful thing that he did.

“For every individual who has got one of these vile stories to put around for whatever purpose, I think there are many, many thousands more whose kindness has meant the world to me.”