Premier dismisses Labor challenge rumours ahead of state election
Prime Minister Jacinta Allan has brushed aside renewed speculation about her leadership, even as influential figures from Labour’s right and left are campaigning for someone else to lead the party to this year’s state election.
Asked on Thursday morning about the risk of losing his job ahead of the November election, the prime minister dismissed speculative reports of a possible problem as “anonymous gossip”.
“I focused on the Victorians,” he said. “It’s not some anonymous gossip from a few vagabonds who need some cuddles.
“I received great support from my strong and united team.”
Labor sources, speaking anonymously to detail internal deliberations, say the push for a leadership change is being driven by the same factional power brokers who tried unsuccessfully a year ago to persuade the state caucus to take action against Allan.
While Victoria’s better-than-expected return to Labor at that election silenced Allan’s critics for a while, recent polls commissioned by the party and media outlets including the Resolve Political Monitor, published by this imprint, show Allan’s popularity with voters remains a drag on the party’s re-election hopes.
There has been background debate in recent weeks about whether new leadership is needed to give Labor a fighting chance of securing a historic fourth consecutive term. One faction chief put forward the view that anyone other than Allan could have led the party to a better outcome.
However, there appears to be little support within the caucus for a leak, despite deepening concerns among Allan’s parliamentary colleagues about the imprint’s response to the government’s revelations about systemic corruption at Big Build construction sites and its apparent inability to engage with voters.
Transport Infrastructure Minister Gabrielle Williams, the dominant left-wing group’s most likely candidate in any leadership fight, said she was not actively seeking the support of her colleagues. He said he believed Deputy Prime Minister Ben Carroll, the backbencher leader of the right wing, was similarly uninterested in numbers.
“This is idle gossip and we’re not paying attention to it,” Williams said. “My support is fully behind the prime minister and the wealth of experience and expertise he brings to his role.
“I’m not aware of any arguments that happened. None.”
Carroll also denied counting the numbers.
“I got the job I wanted. Ministry of Education is the best job,” he said.
“I get out of bed every day and try to make young people’s lives better. There is no more important role than being the minister of education.”
Carroll said Allan would lead the party in November’s election.
“The Premier is doing an outstanding job and working very hard. We are all working hard to make sure our combined team beats the Liberal opposition and I am focused on making sure I get the best deal for our teachers,” he said.
Consumer Affairs Minister Nick Staikos said no one had approached him about the leadership change. “The party is united behind Prime Minister Jacinta Allan and she will take us to the election,” he said.
Leader Steve Dimopoulos dismissed leadership speculation as “absolutely ridiculous”, while Treasurer Jaclyn Symes also backed Allan continuing to lead the party.
“I am a senior member of this government, I will be your resource,” Symes said. “I’m right behind Jacinta Allan.
“This isn’t a popularity contest. It’s about who is best for the job, and that’s Jacinta Allan.”
Mordialloc MP Tim Richardson insisted the government remained a “cohesive and connected team” and noted that under party rules agreed a decade ago any leadership leaks would also require a vote among party members.
“Last I checked there was more chaos, more division and more drama in the Liberal Party. [Married At First Sight] dinner party,” he said.
Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio stated that reports about leadership tensions breed rumors.
“Jacinta Allan is our leader and she will lead us to the next election. We aim to win and we aim to win with Jacinta Allan as our prime minister,” he said.
Labor MPs Sarah Connolly, Nathan Lambert and Melissa Horne have also publicly expressed their support for the prime minister.
A right-wing MP said his colleagues needed to hold their nerve against an inherently unstable opposition as he made a speech to secretly discuss internal party issues.
“We have to keep the show on the road,” the lawmaker said. “Change is death.”
Allan became Victorian premier in September 2023 after Daniel Andrews abruptly resigned less than a year after being re-elected. A senior right-wing figure said Thursday that the transaction costs of changing leadership for the second time this term would likely outweigh the benefits.
“You are signaling to society that you do not trust your own prime minister and are not ready to take part in the government,” the senior figure said.
“You really save furniture.”
There are MPs from both sides of the factional divide who believe the government has reached the point of needing to mitigate an almost certain election loss and salvage whatever seats it can.
There is cautious optimism at the party’s Docklands headquarters that Labor still has a path to victory, no matter how bleak the polls look. Party HQ on Wednesday night distanced itself from claims that the latest internal polls showed Labor heading for a loss of up to 20 seats.
One anonymous MP said leadership speculation had become a recurring feature during parliamentary sitting weeks and would almost certainly continue.
“There is a minority that wants change,” the MP said. “I’m sure we’ll have the same discussion next week.”
Under the ALP’s national party rules, adopted in 2013 in response to the instability of the Rudd and Gillard federal governments, a leadership contest must be decided by a vote of party members and a caucus meeting, with each given equal weight.
The rules require the support of more than 60 percent of the caucus to replace an incumbent prime minister, but it is unclear whether this also applies to state premiers. The current rules have never been tested in Victoria, where there was last a Labor leadership dispute in 1999.
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Chip Le Grand leads our state politics reporting team. He had previously served as the newspaper’s chief correspondent and was a journalist with 30 years of experience.Connect via email.
Rachel Eddie is The Age’s Victorian political correspondent. Contact her at rachel.eddie@theage.com.au, rachel.eddie@protonmail.com or via Signal at @RachelEddie.99.Connect with: X or email.
Daniella White is The Age’s state political correspondent. Contact her at da.white@nine.com.auConnect with: X or email.
