Daniel Andrews cult over but bill left behind

Daniel Andrews’ abrupt exit as the nation’s most powerful premier has left a state mired in debt and the risk of a factional war over who will control the Victorian Labor Party.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, with wife Catherine, calls it quits in Melbourne on Tuesday. Picture: David Crosling

Daniel Andrews’ abrupt exit as the nation’s most powerful premier has left a state mired in debt and the risk of a factional war over who will control the Victorian Labor Party.

Victoria’s ALP factions were blindsided on Tuesday by Mr Andrews’s decision to resign from parliament after almost nine years as premier and 13 as Labor leader, and to declare his successor would be anointed by lunchtime on Wednesday.

Powerbrokers were locked in talks until late into the evening, with several indicating that while Deputy Premier Jacinta Allan was most likely to get the leadership, she was unlikely to enjoy the support and stability MPs had reluctantly granted Mr Andrews due to his talent as a communicator and “election-winning machine”.

“We’re either going to reach a negotiated outcome today, or there’ll be World War III tomorrow,” one factional player told The Australian.

Mr Andrews declined to identify anything he would have done differently on Tuesday, saying he was not a “regretful man”.

“It’s not an easy decision, because as much as we’ve achieved together, there’s so much more to do, but when it’s time, it’s time,” Victoria’s longest-serving Labor Premier said, as he was flanked by wife Catherine, sons Noah and ­Joseph, and his cabinet.

“Recently, in talking to my kids and Cath, thoughts of what life would be like after this job started to creep in, and I’ve always known that the moment that happens, it’s time to go, and to give this privilege, this amazing responsibility, to someone else.

“It’s not an easy job, being premier of our state. That’s not a complaint. That’s just a fact. It requires 100 per cent from you and your family. That, of course, is time-limited, and now is the time to step away.”

Widely regarded as one of the most ruthlessly effective Australian politicians of the modern era, Mr Andrews also leaves Victoria headed for $171.4bn worth of net debt by 2026 — more than the projected net debt of NSW, Queensland and Tasmania combined — and having recently been forced to cancel a Commonwealth Games which had been scheduled to take place in regional Victoria the same year.

While he won three elections and achieved significant political success through policies such as level crossing removals, Victoria’s 48th Premier will also be remembered as the man who sent the state into lockdown six times, presided over an ailing health system and ambulance crisis, and continually shrugged off damning findings of multiple anti-corruption inquiries into his government.

Contrary to Mr Andrews’s indication that Wednesday’s midday caucus meeting was likely to determine who will become the next premier, sources from multiple Labor factions say party rules will require nominations for the leadership to remain open for three days.

Ms Allan’s declaration she will run would leave her and any other nominees unable to serve as an interim leader.

Wednesday’s meeting could instead decide who becomes acting leader and the next premier may not be known until next week.

Mr Andrews leaves office having last week announced his government‘s housing plan for the next decade, and taken a secret tour of the $13bn Melbourne Metro Rail Tunnel, due to open in 2025.

Naming the tunnel tour one of his “best experiences” as Premier, Mr Andrews said he boarded a test train last Thursday afternoon.

“I travelled underneath the city at 80km/h on a train that was made right here in Victoria, through a tunnel that’s getting very close to being finished all because of the good work of Victorians, and I stopped at each station, and I got off and I thanked all the workers, and they talked to me of a sense of pride in what they’d built,” he said.

“That’s right up there with the very best of moments, because it’s going to change our city.”

Mr Andrews’ long-serving chief-of-staff, Lissie Ratcliff, and her deputy, Jessie McCrone, tendered their resignations on Tuesday afternoon.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese praised his friend of 25 years as someone who had never “shirked his responsibilities” during his time as premier.

“Daniel Andrews is a man of great conviction, enormous compassion and fierce determination to make a difference and he has made such a positive difference to the lives of Victorians,” he said.

“You can measure his contribution through nine years, three election victories, the last one with an increased majority. But what you can really measure it on is the fact that he is a builder. He has built enormous infrastructure benefits for Victoria. He’s rebuilt a health system … and indeed during the pandemic as well.”

Opposition leader John Pesutto said Mr Andrews was leaving “because things are falling apart”.

“The legacy that Daniel Andrews leaves is a state that is broken,” he said. “Daniel Andrews has made his announcement today because frankly, and regrettably, the truth caught up with him. You can only make false promises and get away with it for so long.”

Mr Andrews earlier this month became Victoria’s fourth longest-serving premier after eight years and 298 days – one week shy of Sir James McCulloch, who served eight years and 304 days over four separate periods from 1863 to 1877. Liberal Sir Henry Bolte is the longest-serving premier at 17 years and 17 days between 1955 and 1972.

Mr Andrews said he would likely explore private sector employment opportunities after a long break with his family: “I think it highly unlikely that I’ll spend too much more time in the public sector after five o’clock tomorrow.”