‘Running to win’: Daniel Andrews declares he’ll fight in 2022 election

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has insisted in a video posted on social media that he would contest the next state election, as he said he thought he might die after he broke his spine in a fall on slippery stairs in March.

Ahead of his return to work on Monday – his first time back in the top job since he fractured a vertebrae and broke six ribs in the fall – Mr Andrews and his wife Catherine posted a four-minute video explaining how the accident on March 9 had happened.

He reiterated his desire to stay on as Premier and fight at the next Victorian election, planned for 2022, declaring: “I’m on the ballot next year. I’m running and I’m running to win. There’s unfinished business and I’m determined to get it done.

“Being the Premier of this state is the greatest honour of my life, and an important role. When you have a traumatic moment in your life, you kind of reassess things, you remind yourself of the things that are really, really important.”

One of those was his family, he said, but another was the oath he swore to lead the government as premier. There had been speculation even before his accident that he would retire before the next election.

Mr Andrews narrowly avoided permanent spinal injury when he fell on wet stairs at a Sorrento holiday home.

Daniel Andrews and his wife Catherine. Credit: Twitter

“We’d been down the beach having a family weekend - it was a bit of a chance to have some time together and make up for the fact that summer had been busy and a holiday that had been planned hadn’t happened,” Mr Andrews said.

“And I’m making my way to the car to head off to work, and it had been raining ... as I put my foot on the first step, I knew I was in trouble. I didn’t really connect with the step, it just slid straight off. I became airborne almost, so I’m horizontal with the step, and then all I can hear is this almighty crunch. And that’s when I knew, and when I heard the crunch, this is serious, we’re in trouble here.”

He said it had felt like an eternity before Catherine found him because he struggled to yell and was forced to take painful, shallow breaths due to broken ribs.

Ms Andrews said when she found her husband and called for an ambulance, it was “awful because [he] was going blue”.

“We were looking at each other, and I was thinking, ‘You’re going to die here in Sorrento at this holiday house’, and you were looking at me and you felt the same,” she said in the video.

This is the second time Mr Andrews has posted a video since his fall – the first was at 8pm on Sunday, June 12, to announce he would be returning to work on June 28.

On the morning of his fall, the Premier was due to attend a 9am press conference at Healesville, almost two hours away, to announce the Yoo-rrook Justice Commission – an Australian-first inquiry backed by royal commission powers to investigate the ongoing effects of colonisation on Victoria’s Aboriginal community and chart a path to reconciliation.

Details about the Premier’s condition were scant at the time of the fall and he has only provided a handful of updates since through his social media accounts. The information vacuum led to questions about the circumstances surrounding the fall, and prompted the Opposition earlier this month to ask a series of questions, including who owned the holiday home, who called the ambulance, and whether police had interviewed the Premier.

At the time, acting Premier James Merlino and senior cabinet ministers accused the Coalition of peddling “QAnon craziness” and warned the Liberal Party was at risk of plunging into a “Trump conspiracy theory wormhole”.

In his four-minute video, overlaid with piano music and shots of his family preparing food and hot drinks in the kitchen, Mr Andrews thanked his Victoria Police security detail, the “ambos” and healthcare workers who looked after him during his recovery, and those who sent their good wishes.

He said while there had been some “really vile stories” put out about how his accident occurred, he was deeply grateful for the tens of thousands of messages he received from the public.

One of the most important messages he had received was from former Victorian Liberal premier Ted Baillieu, who injured his back 40 years ago and is still living with the repercussions of not recovering properly, Mr Andrews said.

According to Mr Andrews, the former Liberal Premier urged him to take the time to completely heal.

Premier Daniel Andrews has posted a photo of him and his wife Catherine Andrews out for a walk the day before he returns to work after his serious injury.Credit: Instagram

“As painful, as difficult, and as traumatic as it was, we’re very lucky,” he said. “The kindness of strangers, it’s a beautiful thing. It’s the best medicine, in some ways.“

Shadow treasurer Louise Staley, who led the opposition’s charge on the circumstances surrounding the Premier’s fall, declined to comment. Earlier in the day, the opposition’s leader in the upper house David Davis said there were a range of issues the Premier must attend to upon his return, including charting a COVID-19 recovery plan.

In his absence, cabinet ministers speaking on the condition of anonymity so they could discuss issues frankly, had lauded what they described as acting Premier James Merlino’s conciliatory and collegiate style, compared with Mr Andrews’ controlling demeanour.

A Resolve polling survey done for The Age revealed support slipping for Labor and Mr Andrews. Mr Andrews recorded a net “likeability” rating of plus 10 per cent, with 42 per cent of voters expressing a positive view of him, compared with 32 per cent feeling negatively towards him.

Mr Merlino out-polled his boss with a likeability score of plus 15 per cent.

“Dan has been so central to everything that happened in the government ... James has a more cooperative approach and it has worked,” the minister said.

“Some voices are being heard that weren’t in the past.”

On Sunday afternoon, before the Premier released his video, Mr Merlino said he was looking forward to handing back the reins.

“I’m delighted that Dan’s going to be back on his feet as premier tomorrow and that’s a great thing,” Mr Merlino said.

“We all know what a long and painful recovery it is for anyone who has suffered a serious back injury and Dan needed that time to fully recover. I’m delighted, the whole cabinet, the government is delighted that he’s back on his feet tomorrow.”

The Resolve polling also underscored how polarised public opinion on Mr Andrews has become, especially in light of last year’s four-month lockdown.

Those who support Mr Andrews lauded his leadership in a crisis, exceptional performance and competency, and transparency, while those who don’t described him as a dishonest, incompetent leader who was destroying the state.

“The appalling performance of the Andrews government has decimated the state’s economy,” one respondent said. “It’s unforgivable.”

The Premier is returning to work just as Parliament breaks into the five-week winter recess.

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