The political amnesia of Victoria ought to be classified as a mental condition

Dan Andrews has to be one of the best politicians this country has seen – you have to admire his ability to spin nonsense and still have Victorians eating out of his hand.

COMMENT

Daniel Andrews has to be one of the best politicians this country has ever seen.

You almost have to admire his ability to spin complete nonsense and still have Victorians eating out of his hand.

Who else could cancel a major international sporting event such as the Commonwealth Games and claim, with a straight face, that he was just doing the right thing by his put-upon constituents?

It’s like rocking up to the altar to call off your wedding – and telling your would-be bride that you’re doing her a favour because you’ll save so much money.

‘You have to admire Dan Andrews’ ability to spin nonsense and still have Victorians eating out of his hand. Picture: Aaron Francis

You could have thought of that earlier. You know, before you lodged the bid for the Games? Or straight after it was awarded to you. Or just six weeks ago when the official estimated cost of $2.6 billion was again repeated by Labor MPs in parliament.

Such is the patronising arrogance of this man that he could probably tell Victorians they’re only allowed outside for an hour a day and that the coppers will come knocking if they go more than 5km from home and they’d cheer him on as a strong leader.

Oh, wait. That actually happened.

I don’t know if there’s something in the water – I stuck to the bottled stuff when I lived in Melbourne for fear of catching Dan-itis – but he can seemingly do no wrong.

If the cost of an event can go from $2.6 billion to $7 billion in six weeks then I’ll give up red wine for life. Or those who came up with the numbers should have at least laid off it before they started playing with spreadsheets.

Victorian Premier Dan Andrews canned the state’s 2026 Commonwealth Games on Tuesday. Picture: Ian Currie

We’ve yet to see any evidence of this $7 billion quote – Andrews even suggested it could be more – and we probably never will.

Does it exist or was it just a figure drawn up on the back of a coaster because Victoria is fast running out of money and the premier wanted to score political points by saying he was more interested in schools and hospitals?

This is, after all, a government that has compensated people whose homes have been cracked and damaged by big government infrastructure projects with $20 pizza vouchers and free window cleaning. You can’t even get a decent pizza for $20 these days.

The idea of a regional Commonwealth Games was flawed from the beginning. Did they seriously expect interstate or international tourists would schlep from one side of Victoria to the other on trains and greyhound buses just so they could watch swimming one day and sprint races the next?

Journalist Caleb Bond. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

Not that it mattered – Andrews was facing a state election and surmised that there were votes in them thar regions. Genius. Make it rain political points.

Then when it turns to garbage because it was garbage to begin with, you score more political points by acting like you’re making tough calls to protect the state.

And you still have to pay out the regions by delivering the promised infrastructure – including $1 billion for 1300 new social homes, which makes them a modest total of roughly $770,000 a pop. Bring on the marble floors.

Just you watch – it won’t make a lick of difference to Andrews’ popularity.

At this point, the political amnesia of Victoria ought to be classified as a mental condition.

Caleb Bond is an Sydney-based commentator and host of The Late Debate on Sky News Australia.