In short:
Jacinta Allan has resigned as Victoria’s Premier after a failed bid to hold onto the leadership, claiming she would have won a party ballot. Ben Carroll is now expected to become Premier, marking a dramatic shift in Victorian politics.
Allan Walks The Plank
Jacinta Allan has resigned as Premier, avoiding a messy leadership spill but delivering a defiant final address as Victoria’s leader.
On the morning of 28 July, following a frantic 24 hours where it was revealed a cohort of senior ministers had urged Ms Allan to step down and Deputy Premier Ben Carroll announced he would challenge her for the top job, the embattled Premier faced the media to announce her decision.
“After speaking with my colleagues overnight I have made the difficult decision to step aside as leader of the Victorian State Parliamentary Labour Party and as Premier of Victoria,” Ms Allan said.
“Should Ben Carroll emerge as our next Labour leader and Labour Premier, he will have my congratulations and unqualified support. I am making this decision because it is the right thing by the Labor Party and by the Victorian people.
“I was prepared to put my record and my plan to a ballot of members as our rules allow. I believe I would have won but doing so this close to an election takes up valuable resources, including the most precious one, time. More importantly, it puts the state in a position of uncertainty.
“That hurts the Victorian people and I just won’t do that. At the end of the day I am and always have been a team player.
Ben Carroll Poised To Lead Labor’s Election Charge
“I fight for working class families. It’s in my blood and I would have absolutely relished the fight this November. I was more than ready.
“I saw off two Liberal leaders. Now I expect my successor will see off the third. And if they don’t One Nation certainly will.”
The outgoing Premier did not provide any evidence for the Liberal-One Nation coalition categorisation, a claim that has been slammed by Wyndham locals.
Ms Allan said that, upon succeeding Daniel Andrews in September 2023, she inherited a rising crime rate and a budget deficit.
Despite rising crime and debt levels being among the causes of her tanking popularity, she said she was proud of the measures her government implemented to combat these issues.
She also pointed to major infrastructure projects and women’s health initiatives as her proudest endeavours in office.
It is now expected Ben Carroll will be elected as Premier.
Mr Carroll is touted to acquiesce to public demands for a Royal Commission into alleged corruption on Big Build projects — a demand Ms Allan refused to accept right until the end.
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