Premier Daniel Andrews lashes commentary on Cardinal George Pell case result

Daniel Andrews said George Pell received a fair trial and questioned commentators who said the jury had made an error.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews. Picture: AAP

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said Cardinal George Pell had received a fair trial and questioned media commentators who said the jury had made an error in its decision.

“The notion that if you don’t like a verdict, you can just say they got it wrong, that’s not how ours system works,” the Premier said.

“What’s happened here … is that a victim has been believed. And that’s thrown a whole lot of people into absolute disarray,” he told ABC Melbourne’s Jon Faine.

Mr Andrews said the Catholic Church had some way to go on its response to child abuse.

“I have been very disappointed with some of the commentary and some of the positioning from the church since the verdict,” Mr Andrews said.

“And I would hope that senior leaders in the Catholic Church across the country would take the opportunity to make it really clear that the Catholic Church is much more about victims than it is about itself.”

He said he was particularly concerned with some Catholics saying they would visit Cardinal Pell in jail.

“I don’t think that’s right. At this time, that is just not right.”

The Archbishop of Melbourne Peter Comensoli said last week that he intended to visit Pell in jail.