Daniel Andrews vows to serve his full term after Victorian election win

Daniel Andrews is set to become Victoria’s second-longest-serving premier, vowing to serve the full four years of his historic third term.

Daniel Andrews says ‘winning government is a great gift, it is an amazing responsibility’. Picture: AAP

Daniel Andrews is set to become the second-longest-serving premier in Victoria’s 167-year history, vowing to serve the full four years of his historic third term after a crushing defeat that led Matthew Guy to quit as Liberal leader.

With the ALP on track to possibly exceed the number of seats it won in the 2018 “Danslide”, Mr Andrews will later this year surpass John Cain Jr as Victoria’s longest-serving Labor premier, and after 10 years in the top job would be second only to Liberal Henry Bolte, who spent 17 years in power.

Standing alongside deputy Jacinta Allan the morning after his big win, Mr Andrews vowed to waste no time in reconvening parliament and getting back to work, thanking those who had voted for Labor but promising to govern for all Victorians.

“Winning government is a great gift, it is an amazing responsibility,” the Premier said. “Growing up, we were always taught, my sister and I, that if you have opportunity in your life, then you have a profound obligation to do what matters, to do more, to do better, to work hard, and that’s exactly what our government will do.”

With six seats still in doubt as counting continues – and a delayed election set to be held in the safe Liberal seat of Narracan following the death of the Nationals candidate – Labor held at least 52 seats and could win as many as 56 — one more than it held prior to the election.

The Coalition has won at least 25 and could win as many 31 – three more than it won in 2018 – while the Greens look like adding one seat to their tally with a total of four.

All three seats previously held by regional independents have gone to the Nationals, and while the race remains tight between Liberals and teal independents in the seats of Hawthorn and Mornington, it appears more likely that there will not be lower house independents in the new parliament, with Climate 200-backed independent Sophie Torney conceding defeat to Liberal Jess Wilson in the seat of Kew on Sunday afternoon.

With 68.3 per cent of the vote counted, there has been a 5.8 per cent primary vote swing against Labor, to 37 per cent, and 0.7 per cent against the Liberals, to 29.7 per cent.

With the assistance of the Nat­ionals, whose primary increased 0.6 per cent to 5.4 per cent, the ­Coalition looks to have secured a 35.1 per cent primary vote, converting to a 54.1 per cent to 45.9 per cent two-party-preferred split, representing a 3.5 per cent swing to the Coalition since 2018.

The final Newspoll before the election, published exclusively in The Weekend Australian had Labor ahead 54.5-45.5.

On counting so far, the Greens have secured a 0.2 per cent swing to a primary vote of 10.9 per cent, while 5.7 per cent of the vote went to independents and minor parties, despite none getting elected.

Asked whether he intended to serve a third full term, which would take his time as Premier to 12 years, his time as Labor leader to 16, and his time in parliament to 24, Mr Andrews said: “Yeah.”

“I’m honoured by the choice that the Victorian community have made, and I thank every single Victorian who voted for us for their faith and confidence, and we won’t let you down,” he said.

The Premier said the first 100 days of his third term would look like “a lot of hard work” and “getting on and getting things done”.

“The parliament will sit this year as soon as the writ is returned, and we’ll get rid of those formalities so that we can make the fast start,” he said. “We will continue to do what we’ve always done: put people first and deliver for all Victorians and do what matters.

“Maybe this is obvious to you or maybe it isn’t, but I have never simply wanted this for the win. I’m not about just defeating our opponents. I’ve wanted it and I’ve worked hard for it, and when I say I, it’s the whole team. We’ve always wanted this for the work, to get things done.

“You don’t choose the challenges you face. But I’ll tell you what, if you work hard, if you can get things done, then you can make Victoria a fairer and stronger place, and that’s what I’m committed to every waking moment. That’s what the first 100 days will be about.”

Mr Guy, meanwhile, kept a low profile, releasing a statement late on Sunday morning confirming he would stand aside as Opposition Leader following his second massive loss to Mr Andrews, making it clear he would call a meeting of the partyroom as soon as parliament resumed to elect a new leader.

“Once again, I congratulate the Australian Labor Party on winning the 2022 Victorian state election,” Mr Guy said.

“I want to put on record my deep appreciation to all Liberal and National Party candidates, their campaign teams and volunteers for the tireless work they have done, particularly over recent weeks.

“The respectable statewide two-party-preferred swing to the Coalition of 3-4 per cent was most profound in the exceptional swings to the Liberal Party in Melbourne’s north and west.

“This represents a huge ­future electoral opportunity for the Liberal Party.

“As soon as it is clearer which Liberal Party candidates will form the parliamentary partyroom, I will call them together to elect their new leadership team.

“I will not be a candidate for the position of leader.”

A senior Labor strategist said the party had targeted Mr Guy as a “weakness” for the Coalition, and overcome negative perceptions around the Premier.

“All of our research and polling pointed to this kind of result,” the Labor strategist said.

“Guy was one of their weaknesses, and on our side people liked the things we were doing but there was some discontent around Daniel.

“We based our campaign strategy around telling voters that we were doing the things they liked, and Guy would cut them.

“We knew the voters we had to win and we knew the message we had to get across to get them there, and we targeted them ­relentlessly.”