The virtually unknown Victorian Deputy Premier, Ben Carroll, has been elected the State’s 50th Premier after the dumping of Jacinta Allan.
The scourge of the Andrews / Allan (AA) era is gone. But voters will not quickly forget the pain inflicted upon them during twelve years of economic and social destruction.
With the scramble to save some of Labor’s electoral furniture at November’s poll reaching fever pitch, even Jacinta Allan’s own left faction turned against her.
The former Premier and Andrews’ clone had nowhere to hide.
In a futile exercise, Allan initially said she’d fight the challenge to her leadership, but sensationally resigned immediately prior to a vote in Caucus – which she lamely declared she would have won.
Conventionally, leaders need a minimum of six months before facing voters – but time is not on the side of the most reviled government in the State’s history.
With an economy decimated by the reckless and prolonged economic mismanagement of Labor, voters and caucus members have had enough.
The truly gruesome spectacle of blow-out construction projects costing Victorian taxpayers billions via the State’s ‘big build’ program had become too much – even for hardest of hard left Labor apparatchiks.
Allan’s downfall was, in part, triggered by her dismissive – even incurious – treatment of the issue.
The issue for taxpayers has weight given the state’s economy is in such a dire mess with critical public sectors such as health, mental health, disability, education, roads, community safety, and energy all underfunded and all in varying stages of decay given the parlous public-sector operating environment across the state.
On any measure, this ‘clapped out’ administration should be terminated by Victorian voters. It’s been in power since November 2014 and in that time has overseen a collapse in vital public services and massive cost overruns in all that it has committed to.
Under the watch of Daniel Andrews and then Jacinta Allan – Victoria now carries the mantle for the highest net debt of any state in Australia approaching $200 billion by 2029-30. Interest costs in the state are running at just a whisker over $100 million per week (roughly $1.02 million per hour) and taken on an annual basis, the figure is $9 billion estimated to be approaching $12 billion by 2029-30.
Business and consumer confidence is subterranean and capital continues to leave Victoria in search of a more conducive home. Recent tax changes by Federal Labor have merely served to worsen the crisis in the state.
Voters are now heavily focused on questions of Labor’s integrity and governance practices. They will have already factored that the ‘new’ Premier, Ben Carroll, stood shoulder to shoulder with Andrews and Allan for the entirety of their terms. He’s just another Labor foot soldier from á weakened and diminished Labor Cabinet.
The change of leadership now will not dispel the deep problems with the Labor Ministry and over-inflated public service. Labor long ago stopped acting in the interests of taxpayers. The demise of this government cannot come soon enough.
