I’m keen to work Monday: Daniel Andrews commits to serve full term if re-elected Premier

Daniel Andrews has committed to serve a full term — and a total of eight years as Victorian premier — if the polls are right and he’s re-elected.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews speaks at Cranbourne West Primary School in Melbourne today. Picture: Julian Smith/AAP

Daniel Andrews has pledged to serve a full term as Premier should his Labor government be re-elected tomorrow.

Visiting a Cranbourne West Primary School in Melbourne’s southeast for his final campaign stop before election day, the Premier warned voters that “a handful of votes in a handful of seats” could put an end to his “positive and optimistic agenda” for Victoria.

Asked whether he wanted serve a full term if re-elected, which would mean 12 years as the leader of the Victorian ALP and eight as Premier, Mr Andrews said, “yes”.

“It’s a great honour to be the premier of this state, and the gift of a second term would be an amazing opportunity for us to continue building continue investing and creating more jobs, getting on with things like the suburban rail loop, solar panels on rooftops, giving families control over their power bills, all of that positive and optimistic agenda that we have laid out. I am very keen that if we are re-elected, to get back to work on Monday,” Mr Andrews said.

“As much as I love campaigning, I want to get back to work on Monday building the things that our state needs today and for the long term. I’m in this for the long term.”

Mr Andrews said he did not want to entertain the “hypothetical” of not winning, when asked if he would resign as leader should Labor lose.

“I want to keep fighting right up until 6.00 tomorrow night,” he said.

“We take nothing for granted. Let’s see what the verdict of the Victorian community is.”

The Premier declined to comment on a Herald Sun Gallaxy poll which showed Labor leading the Coalition 53-47 two party-preferred, and a ReachTEL poll which showed Labor ahead 54-46.

“I think for eight years now I haven’t given you too much commentary on the polls, I’m not about to change that, other than to give you that time honoured cliche, which is a cliche because it’s true: the only poll that matters is the one that will be conducted tomorrow,” he said.

“These things are always close.

“A handful of votes in a handful of seats can make all the difference between an agenda that’s about building, investing, getting things done, or going back to a time when hospitals and schools were cut and so many Victorians were left behind.”

Mr Andrews defended his Treasurer Tim Pallas’s announcement yesterday that Labor intends to increase state debt by $25.6bn to fund infrastructure projects, arguing his government is “borrowing to build”.

“You’ve got a very clear choice: you can not build the infrastructure that you need, well that’s not my way. You can increase taxes to pay for the infrastructure we need. That’s not my way either. Or you can cut services, hospitals and schools. I leave that to our political opponents,” Mr Andrews said.

Mr Andrews said Labor’s expert advice, including from the ratings agencies, is that the borrowing will not put Victoria’s Triple A credit rating at risk.

Victorian opposition Leader Matthew Guy with his wife Renae Guy at Cranbourne railway station in Melbourne today. Picture: AAP

While at Cranbourne West Primary, Mr Andrews and Education Minister James Merlino announced the expansion of the school breakfast program and the provision of school lunches at 1,00 schools where students face socio-economic challenges.

The expansion will cost $58 million.

Guy: We have a good chance

Meanwhile, Victorian Opposition Leader Matthew Guy has batted away polling showing that the Liberals are on track for a drubbing in Saturday’s state election, saying the predictions don’t match up with the party’s internal figures.

Two separate polls released overnight showed Labor had stretched its lead over the Coalition, leading 53-47 and 54-46 on a two party preferred basis, prompting some pundits to say an Andrews victory was assured in tomorrow’s election.

A YouGov Galaxy poll indicated the two major parties were neck and neck on primary terms, both scoring primary votes of 40 per cent, while a Reachtel poll putting Labor’s ahead in primary votes at 39-36 and the Greens at 10 per cent.

Mr Guy dismissed the projections, saying internal research indicated the Liberals were on solid footing.

“Any poll that's saying the Liberal Party’s going to get only get 34 per cent of the vote, I’m sorry, I just don’t think that’s accurate at all,” he said.

“Having said that, our internal polling on a seat by seat basis is good. We’re positive, and we have to be as frank with ourselves as we can, but we look at our research and it says we have a very good chance.”

Mr Guy said he had put to Victorians a plan with short, medium and long term objectives to make the state safe, to lower the cost of living and to bust congestion by decentralisation.

“We are positive, we are upbeat and there’s a choice we have provided Victorians with, and tomorrow I hope they vote Liberal.”

Victoria’s major parties have descended on the same Melbourne marginal electorate to woo voters with more transport promises in the final pitches of the campaign.

Mr Guy and wife Renae braved blustery conditions and rain at Cranbourne Station to announce a $70 million upgrade to the state’s bus services, in a last ditch pitch to voters in the electorate Labor holds on a margin of 2.6 per cent.