Dan Andrews reportedly launched into an expletive-laden ‘tirade’ during a meeting to determine his successor.
The outgoing Victorian Premier’s alleged attempt to engineer an all-Socialist Left leadership team of Jacinta Allan and Tim Pallas backfired when he realised Labor Party rules would require them to hold a ballot of members after ministers on the Right of the party threw their hats into the ring.
‘Daniel exploded in caucus,’ a Labor source told The Australian.
Dan Andrews (pictured) reportedly launched into an expletive-laden ‘tirade’ during a meeting to determine his successor
Jacinta Allan, the woman elected to replace Dan Andrews as Victorian premier, appears with new deputy leader Ben Carroll
‘His rant was second to none. It was f***ing this, f***ing that. He basically said to them: “You all have the right to aspire to be promoted. You don’t have the right to bring divisions into this room”.’
Another added: ‘It was a classic Daniel manoeuvre, complete with a classic botching of the detail around party rules.’
The sources told the newspaper that the eventual compromise of Ms Allan as Premier and Right-aligned Ben Carroll as her deputy was struck at Mr Andrew’s urging.
‘He told them: “You guys, sort this out. There’s a fricking deal to be made here. Do it now”,’ a Labor source said.
‘The last thing he did was what he should have done at the very beginning.’
Mr Andrews did not comment on the newspaper’s claims.
‘The 49th Premier was elected unopposed by the caucus, and she has my full support,’ he said.
Mr Andrews announced his shock resignation on Tuesday, after winning three elections for the Victorian Labor Party.
Despite his success, he will leave a divisive legacy due to Melbourne’s Covid-19 lockdowns, which were among the longest of any city in the world, with many critics dubbing him ‘Dictator Dan’.
Hundreds of people gathered on the steps of Victorian parliament to celebrate Mr Andrews’ resignation on Wednesday.
Ms Allan paid tribute to her predecessor when she took over the Victorian Premiership on Wednesday, describing him as the ‘the fabulous Daniel Andrews’.
‘He’s been driven by his values every single day he has served the Victorian community,’ she said.
Daniel Andrews and his successor as Victorian Premier Jacinta Allen are pictured in 2022
But she signalled she would move away from his domineering approach.
‘What I will bring to this role I will bring hard work I will be driven by my values and driven by that genuine desire to listen to people,’ she said.
Unlike Mr Andrews whose focus was very much on transport infrastructure Ms Allan said that helping solve the state’s chronic housing crisis would be her first priority.
‘Housing challenges are first and foremost in my mind,’ she said.
‘How do we build more homes, more affordable homes more quickly.’
Ms Allan is the first woman to lead the state since Labor’s Joan Kirner stepped down more than 30 years ago in 1992.
She became emotional talking about Ms Kirner who she said had been a ‘wonderful mentor’ to her and others in the Labor party.
Ms Allan reflected on this she voiced the hope that her elevation to premier would show ‘young women, older women, women from across all parts of the state’ that they have a role at all levels of leadership.
‘They can see that leadership comes in different shapes and sizes,’ Ms Allan said.
‘Whether it’s in politics, running local community groups, being a small business person, running big corporations, running a farm, women have a place to be recognised as leaders in all of these roles across our community.’
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