Sit down with Jacinta Allan: ‘What I’m focused on is how to make things easier for families’

State political editor Shannon Deery sits down with Premier Jacinta Allan in India to discuss education, infrastructure and international partnerships.

When she took over, Allan and her team wrote a list of problems they wanted to urgently address. Picture: Supplied

Jacinta Allan is on the move.

Having just spent five days in India with her, it’s clear that her 25 years in parliament — a milestone she celebrated on day four of the whirlwind trade mission — has done nothing to slow her.

We’re in the back of her car racing down India’s N48 highway between global education summit Didac 2024 — where she has given a keynote speech to education leaders from around the globe _ and the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan School, where she will meet with young students she hopes will one day come to Victoria to study.

She’s kicked her shoes off and is holding a stack of briefing notes.

Apart from the odd Taylor Swift singalong — Allan is a verified Swiftie — travel time is work time.

It’s the only way Victoria’s 49th premier can pack in as much as she wants to on her first overseas trip in the top job.

Moments after touching down in Delhi on Sunday, Allan was already raising the case of fugitive killer Puneet Puneet with Australia’s High Commissioner to India, Philip Green.

Jacinta Allan on tour in India Piture: Supplied

It was the first of dozens of engagements in a jam-packed schedule in which she held multiple press conferences a day, gave keynote speeches and met with Indian leaders to boost opportunities between key sectors and deepen the bilateral relationship.

Those who work with her say the frantic pace is normal for the Premier.

But if she has an extra spring in her step, it might be because after a year in the top job — the anniversary of which she’ll celebrate this week — the India trip is a clear line in the sand moment for Allan, delineating her administration from that of her predecessor, Daniel Andrews.

When she took over, Allan and her team wrote a list of problems they wanted to urgently address.

It took longer than hoped, but the bulk of that work has now been done.

Which means the next two years is about clearly stating her vision for Victoria, and Allan hopes India will play a big part in that.

For Andrews, it was all about China.

Boasting a bigger population than any other country, Allan firmly believes India is the future with its untapped potential she says could unlock significant opportunities for Victoria’s economy.

Which is why education has been such a focus for the trip, both luring students to Victoria, and incentivising tertiary providers to invest in overseas campuses.

Allan believes we’re not doing enough to export our service economy.

Allan believes we’re not doing enough to export our service economy. Picture: Supplied

“We’re the biggest dairy exporter in Australia, our quality wine and food is exported to the world,” she says.

“Well, we can do that in the service economy as well. And education is a great example of that which has been the focus of this week.”

The trip also locked in agreements with major Indian companies that will generate more than 500 jobs.

Victoria’s debt trajectory might be hurtling toward a record $188bn by 2027-28, but Allan doesn’t accept the state is in financial ruin.

“Victoria’s got some really key economic strengths,” she says.

“Businesses are investing here. They’re investing in a whole range of different sectors, in manufacturing, in property, in housing, they’re partnering with us in renewable energy.

“I think the role that we play as a state government is to grow the economy.

“That is why my focus on building is a key priority, building homes, building transport, building renewable energy.

“They are important because they are the infrastructure that our city and state needs for the future, and it has that double benefit of providing economic security through tens of thousands of jobs right now, jobs directly and jobs in the supply chain.

“That’s why being here in India is absolutely part of our economic agenda.”

Allan blames the Reserve Bank for encouraging states to borrow heavily throughout Covid, supply issues the pandemic exacerbated and workforce shortages for Victoria’s economic problems.

Allan firmly believes India is the future with its untapped potential she says could unlock significant opportunities for Victoria’s economy. Picture: Supplied

Not only does she reject suggestions that continuing with the $34.5bn first stage of the Suburban Rail Loop is a contributing factor, she is more committed than ever to the project.

Asked if there is a world in which the government doesn’t proceed with the SRL, Allan says it’s a non-negotiable.

“Melbourne is the largest city in the country, and we’re continuing to grow,” she says.

“Cities of our size around the world are investing in more and more rail projects, more public transport, and particularly orbital rail.

“And the reason why they’re doing that is because it’s a productivity outcome, gets people where they want to go, gets cars off local roads, and it also provides new transport hubs around which you can build more homes.

“That’s why I am absolutely committed to delivering the Suburban Rail Loop, because that’s the sort of infrastructure we need for a city the size of Melbourne.

“It is just so important we continue to push on and deliver this project now.”

For Allan, public transport is all about equality.

“If you can get the train to work, to school, to uni, to health services, that’s an equality of opportunity.

“If you don’t have a car, you may not have that opportunity. And so it’s, it’s, it’s absolutely, it remains an absolutely vital project that we are going to deliver.”

New analysis by Victoria’s Parliamentary Budget Office shows that every $1 spent building the first two stages of the 90km rail line would result in social benefits of between only 60 and 70 cents.

But Allan is adamant the case stacks up, based on a 2021 business case.

Polling released last week also warned voters were concerned the SRL was hampering government efforts to address the state’s housing crisis.

It was the latest blow for Allan in the polls — since taking the reins Labor’s primary vote, as polled by Redbridge, has been in freefall from 37 to 30.

There has been no uptick, only a downward trajectory, while the Opposition has steadily gained ground and now leads Labor by 10 points.

There’s a view among some that Allan has taken too long to forge her own path.

Replacing Andrews has been a big challenge, such was his impact, and Allan has found herself battling criticism of her involvement in his government.

She was the minister responsible for both the failed Commonwealth Games and billion-dollar blowouts on the government’s Big Build program.

Some believe she hasn’t yet fully sold her transition from minister to stateswoman to voters.

But Allan says she’s not driven by polls.

Allan says she is not driven by polls. Picture: Supplied

“The approach I’ve taken to this job is the one that I’ve taken to every day in the job,” she says.

“It’s getting out into the community, listening to people, sitting down, going to where they are, going into schools and aged care centres and into workplaces and going into sporting clubs.

“People give you their unfiltered view, and that’s also how you can problem solve, identify the issues, work through the problems.

“In some ways, I feel like the role of Premier is a bit like being a local member of parliament for the entire state.”

It’s that engagement Allan believes help her keep her finger on the pulse of public sentiment, and has given her the confidence to tackle the problems she inherited even if it meant backflipping on key policy announcements or shunning expert advice.

There’s been a range of issues from duck hunting to pill testing to youth justice reforms that has seen Allan take a significantly different path than that of her predecessor.

When a panel of experts recommended she merge the state’s health system, Allan said no.

She rejected advice to establish a second CBD injecting room, too.

“Yes, listening to experts is always important, but experts are found in every household and on every street corner,” she says.

“People are entitled to have their view, to express it, to share it, to be listened to.

“Ultimately, governments are elected to make decisions and my approach is to make those decisions based on listening and evidence.”

Less than two weeks after she became premier, Hamas attacked Israel sparking the latest conflict in the Middle East.

Allan has been left disturbed by the way in which that conflict has brought conflict to the streets of Melbourne.

Allan says she’s most proud of the work her government has done around schools. Picture: Supplied

She’s scathing of parliamentary colleagues, the Greens, who have weaponized the conflict and says she can’t remember political divisiveness being so pervasive in Victoria.

While in India she’s been reading A Brilliant Life, by Melbourne based journalist Rachelle Unreich.

“She’s seven years older than me, and she grew up in Melbourne, and her mum was a child when World War II started,” she says.

“Her teenage years were shaped by hiding from the Nazis, working and living in the worst of the concentration camps in World War II.

“It just made me pause and think there are so many people in our community today who are so personally connected to the horrors of anti-Semitism.

“And so we have to understand that historic context about what is a conflict overseas.”

Allan says she’s most proud of the work her government has done around schools — expanding breakfast clubs and introducing a new School Saving Bonus.

“They’re the things that I know are going to make a real difference for families,” she says.

And it’s that focus on families she hopes will come to define her government.

“What I’m focused on is what we can do as a state government to make things that little bit easier for families.”

“I speak to all the former premiers, and why wouldn’t I,” she says.

“It’s a job like no other, and there is certainly an opportunity to listen to them.

“I’ve got the opportunity to strike my own path.”

Asked how she thinks she’s going so far, Allan is predictably coy.

“That’s, quite frankly, for others to judge.”