Premier Daniel Andrews marks one year since state election
Entering his sixth year in Victoria’s top job, Premier Daniel Andrews reveals his greatest successes and plans for the future. Find out what’s on the cards.
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Tomorrow marks 12 months since Daniel Andrews and his government secured a second four-year term leading Victoria. The Premier speaks to Herald Sun state political editor Tom Minear about his achievements and failures, his future plans and his legacy.
You’ve been in power for five years now. What do you see as your greatest successes?
We’ve not wasted a moment, we’ve set a cracking pace, we really have changed the pace of state politics in our state and maybe even beyond in some ways. Every day in government is a great gift and the best way to repay people for the trust they’ve shown in you is get things done … We’ve changed the culture of the public service — things are not taking as long as they used to. That I think is something that Victorians value.
Being as far ahead in our level crossing removal program as we are, we’re very proud of all the team that have delivered that. Thousands of workers who’ve worked 24 hours a day for the last five years to get us ahead of schedule. We’re up over 30 (crossings removed) now, we’re well on the way to getting 50 done by 2022 and 75 by 2025.
The family violence royal commission delivered, and we’re well on the way to delivering all the recommendations. A long way to go, but we’ve set a pretty cracking pace there, and we invest more than every other government combined.
The mental health royal commission, the first report will come (next week) … and I think that’s going to be a really significant moment for our state. The reform agenda there is massive, the price-tag will be equally large, but I see that as being a really big part of next year.
Voluntary assisted dying had hung around on the edge of politics for a long time. Not only did we have an opportunity but we had a profound obligation to take that issue on and have a respectful debate, and back ourselves in to be at our best as a parliament.
Looking back over the last five years, are there issues you would like to revisit, or things you would have done differently?
If you could go back and do things differently, there’s lots of things you would do differently. Some of those seem to dominate coverage — they don’t dominate my thinking. You can’t go back, that’s the key. There is no do-over. But at the same time, every day is an opportunity to learn, and that’s the great beauty of this job.
Everyone makes mistakes, but you can’t look back, you’ve got to be looking forward. You’ve got to have a listening ear and people with common sense, telling you as it is. My family play that role a fair bit. Joseph will be 13 in February so that gives us three teenagers and they keep me exceptionally well grounded, and Catherine is always very quick to point out whenever I might even contemplate getting ahead of myself.
Can you guarantee voters that you will still be the Premier going to the 2022 election?
Yeah, I gave a commitment at the last election that I’d run the full term and I absolutely love this job. It’s quite often difficult, there’s no easy days in this job, but it’s a great honour and a privilege, and I’ve still got a lot of stuff to build and a lot of reform to push through. We’ve got a lot of hard work to go.
Bill Shorten said recently he wanted to be in politics for another 20 years. Do you see yourself doing that?
I admire Bill’s stamina. I’ve already been here for 20 years almost, that’s the difference I suppose … I think this is the ninth year that I’ve led my party. So I’ve been doing this for a while. I’m as engaged, as enthralled, as challenged and as rewarded as I’ve ever been. We’ve got a lot more stuff to build. But no, I don't think I will be here in 2039.
If you win in 2022, you’re not far away from getting a statue of yourself for serving 3000 days in power — an honour brought in by Jeff Kennett. Is that something that appeals to you when you think about your legacy?
Nobody will believe this answer. The honest to goodness truth on this, I do not think about those things too often. I’m a pretty superstitious person and you shouldn’t get too far ahead of yourself.
I’m very much focused on making sure we give Victorians another really clear choice in 2022, to keep going, keep building, keep on leading our nation or to go a different way. That’ll be up to them and there’s lots of hurdles to get over before we get to that point. You don’t run again for those sorts of things, you run again and you want to win again for the work that you’ll be able to do, not for the acclaim you might get.
After politics, do you have aspirations to a job in business or another form of public service? Do you think about what you will do after you leave parliament?
It’s funny actually, in the lead-up to elections, your mind can’t help but have a few thoughts in the event that you were not asked to continue. Not a lot of thought, though. I suppose if I was doing something different, I expect that it would probably be at a different pace, probably wouldn’t work quite the hours we do right now, it would be a different role. I try not to think too much about that.
You brought gender equality to your Cabinet last year. Would you like your successor to be a woman?
Who my successor is and when that is, is a matter for my colleagues and indeed a matter for the Victorian people. I will not be serving as the opposition leader, I can guarantee you that … I’ve done my time on that side of the chamber.
You have had a more constructive relationship with Scott Morrison since the federal election. Is that here to stay or will we see a return to a more partisan approach?
There are many things we don’t necessarily agree on. But in all the conversations and all the dealings I’ve had with the Prime Minister, he’s indicated to me that he’s desperate to get on and get things done, and I’m no different to that. I want every day to be about achieving things, so there are some things we can do together. I think that’s exactly what people want.
I can’t guarantee that we won’t argue about a few things … But I don’t think you get any points from the community by squabbling. The electorate never get it wrong, they’ve elected Mr Morrison and his team, and now it’s our job to work with them to get the best deal for Victoria possible, and I think we’ve come a long way in the last six months and I don’t see that changing.
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Column: Remember what happened after Paul Keating spruiked his "beautiful set of numbers"? The Victorian Budget may look strong but there's a brewing perfect storm on the way. https://t.co/IVi9jgjLIs @theheraldsun #springst
— Tom Minear (@tminear) November 17, 2019
Labor MPs say they have noticed you are engaging more with them individually now than previously. Is that a fair assessment?
It’s a bigger caucus. I’ll leave the comparisons to others but I’ve made a real effort this term. It’s not like we’re not busy, I wouldn’t want you to get that impression, but is the first 100 days of this term as frenetic of the first 100 days back in 2015? Obviously we have a little bit more time because you get better at this the longer you do it.
I’ve made a conscious effort to try and be there for them because I know those first six months, 12 months are really formative and can set you up for the sort of MP that you are, the voice for your community that you are.