Daniel Andrews blindsides his factional rivals

Daniel Andrews has made a shock move which cements power for the Premier within his own faction and in caucus more broadly.

Premier Daniel Andrews and Deputy Premier Jacinta Allan at the Town Hall Station site, Metro Tunnel, on Thursday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nicki Connolly

Daniel Andrews has blindsided the Right of the Victorian Labor Party as well as enemies within his Socialist Left faction by recruiting seven members of the Right, including Treasurer Tim Pallas, ahead of a Victorian ALP caucus meeting to determine the composition of his third-term cabinet.

Late on Thursday, multiple Labor sources confirmed that three members of the Mods faction previously associated with disgraced former powerbroker Adem Somyurek and all four Nat­ional Union of Workers-aligned MPs had shifted their ­allegiances to the Socialist Left.

The defectors include Mr Pallas, Tourism, Sport and Major Events Minister Steve Dimopoulos, Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier Nick Staikos and backbencher Jackson Taylor from the NUW faction, and parliamentary secretaries Katie Hall and Tim Richardson, and backbencher Meng Heang Tak from the Mods.

The only other member of the Mods, Child Protection Minister Colin Brooks, has chosen to remain in the Right.

The move cements power for the Premier within his own faction and in caucus more broadly, and shores up his deputy Jacinta Allan as his chosen successor.

It comes just hours after Mr Andrews told journalists he was “not concerned about factions” in response to a question on whether he was worried that the Socialist Left had lost ground against the Right as a result of losing seats on Saturday.

“I’m not concerned about factions, and I reckon I’ve demonstrated that,” he said on Thursday morning.

“I’m not concerned about little groups in the community. I’m concerned about everybody across the Victorian community, and that’s why we have a positive plan for the entire state.

“There’ll be a caucus process, a caucus meeting and process, then we’ll have you down to Government House and we’ll swear in a new ministry, and we’ll be able to talk in more concrete terms then.”

Challenged over the reality that factions ultimately determine who makes it into cabinet in the Labor Party, Mr Andrews said: “Caucus will determine the new team sheet, and then I’ll allocate portfolios. That is to say, it’ll be done no different to the way it’s been done for a very long time.”

Mr Andrews declined to comment on reports that upper house MP Enver Erdogan and Deputy Speaker Natalie Suleyman were likely to be promoted at the expense of Veterans and Commonwealth Games Legacy Minister Shaun Leane, and in the wake of the retirement of Jaala Pulford, who held the portfolios of employment, innovation, medical research and the digital economy, resources and small business.

Lizzie Blandthorn will need to be replaced as Leader of the House, having moved from the seat of Pascoe Vale to the upper house; she is likely to move from her planning portfolio due to perceived conflicts of interest related to her brother John-Paul Blandthorn’s work as a lobbyist.

There is also a small possibility that Water, Regional Development and Equality Minister Harriet Shing could lose her upper house seat, with counting not due to be finalised until December 13 and three potential Labor seats still too close to call.

Mr Andrews expressed optimism when asked whether he expected to hold a caucus meeting this week.“I hope so, yes, but we’ll just have to wait and see,” he said.