Labor supporters call on Premier Daniel Andrews to get tough on law and order

IF members of the Andrews Government weren’t aware of the scale of its law-and-order woes, this could be the wake-up call they need.

A brawl erupts at Federation Square during Moomba festivities.

• Shock poll: Victorians think officials are losing Apex battle

IF members of the Andrews Government weren’t aware of the scale of its law-and-order woes, this could be the wake-up call they need.

The results from the Herald Sun/ Galaxy poll show it’s not just Coalition-leaning voters who believe the Premier is a soft touch.

About half of Labor supporters believe Dan Andrews’s government isn’t tough enough on youth crime, and more than half (56 per cent) think Apex is in control.

Two years into the job, the government has time to turn that around. But if the problem festers too long, then the perception it can’t control crime could set in.

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy has already sensed a weakness and used Trump-like rhetoric at his party’s annual state gathering when declaring he would focus on “making our state safe again”.

While some Labor MPs will groan at the attempt to hijack Donald Trump’s “make America great again” slogan, they would be wise to heed the underlying message.

There has been an indic­ation for some time that the government is planning to drastically boost police resources, including by hiring thousands of new officers.

This would give it something to tell worried Victorians hearing about daily carjackings and home invasions.

Halfway through Labor’s term, it has retained a slight lead over the Coalition (52-48), according to the Galaxy numbers. Having their noses in front will please some MPs, given a minister has left Cabinet for chauffeuring his dogs at taxpayer expense, and the CFA crisis still has no end in sight.

On the Coalition side, one positive is that more voters do not appear to have shifted to Labor since it won the 2014 election. Midway through 2015, Labor enjoyed a short political honeymoon with a Newspoll showing it had extended its two-party preferred lead over the Coalition to 58-42. It’s now back to 52-48.

On the flip-side, if the ­Coalition couldn’t make inroads into Labor’s lead while Apex is running riot and Steve Herbert is caught chauffeuring his dogs around, when could it?

One thing to note in last year’s Newspoll was Andrews’ personal ratings.

At that time, voters indicated they were fairly satisfied with Andrews and, on the question of who made the better premier out of him or Guy, he held a 24-point lead (although 28 per cent of respondents were uncommitted).

Now, it appears a lot of the gloss has worn off. According to this poll, only 36 per cent of those surveyed think Andrews is the man best placed to lead the state. That’s only 5 per cent more people than those who nominated Guy as the guy who should be in charge.

One-third of voters didn’t want to pick either leader. Given the amount of effort put into protecting the Premier’s image, that might cause just as much internal concern as Labor’s woeful crime numbers.

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