‘Under no circumstances should Mr Andrews retain the Companion of the Order of Australia’

Almost 18,000 Victorians have signed a petition urging the Governor-General to remove Daniel Andrews’ “inappropriate and unjustified honour” less than 48 hours after it was launched.

Almost 18,000 Victorians have signed a petition calling for Daniel Andrews to be stripped of his King’s Birthday honour- less than 48 hours after it was launched.

The petition, started by Victorian Nationals leader Peter Walsh on Wednesday afternoon, calls for the “inappropriate and unjustified honour” to be removed by Governor-General David Hurley.

By noon on Friday it had already attracted almost 18,000 signatures.

The decision to recognise Mr Andrews with the nation’s highest honour, the Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), for his service to Victoria, public health, policy and regulatory reform, and to infrastructure development, sparked widespread backlash this week.

Daniel Andrews received the nation’s highest honour, the Companion of the Order of Australia (AC). Picture: Aaron Francis

“The number of responses in less than 48 hours reflects what people are saying and how they feel,” Mr Walsh said.

“When I talk to people, the level of anger still in the community about the former Premier comes through so strongly.

“They feel so passionately about the things he did wrong through Covid and the mess he’s left Victoria in.”

The petition will remain open for a number of weeks before being presented to the Governor-General.

Just 900 complaints prompted an investigation into the newly formed National Anti-Corruption Commission this week.

An inquiry will probe the body’s decision not to investigate the referrals from the Robodebt royal commission.

Nationals leader Peter Walsh says Victorians have been burdened with record debt because Mr Andrews couldn’t manage money. Picture: Nicki Connolly

Former Liberal Premier Jeff Kennett has called on the chair of the Council for the Order of Australia, Shelley Reys, to explain the award.

“To my knowledge not only has Mr Andrews not done any eminent community service, but he has also abjectly failed any objective test on the matters for which he received the recognition,” Mr Kennett wrote in the Herald Sun on Monday.

“Victorian citizens are going to pay heavily, for decades, for the failures of Mr Andrews.”