Daniel Andrews
Daniel Michael Andrews is an Australian former politician who served as the 48th premier of Victoria from 2014 to 2023. He held office as the leader of the Victorian branch of the Australian Labor Party from 2010 and was a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly for the district of Mulgrave from 2002 until his resignation in 2023. Andrews is the longest-serving Labor premier and the fourth-most-tenured premier in Victorian state history.
Andrews entered the Bracks Ministry in 2006, serving as the Minister for Consumer Affairs. The following year, he was later appointed Minister for Health in the Brumby Ministry until the defeat of the government at the 2010 election by Ted Baillieu. Whilst in opposition, Andrews was elected Leader of the Labor Party in Victoria, and became Leader of the Opposition.
After one term in opposition, Andrews led Labor to victory in the 2014 election. He was sworn in Premier in December of that year. He led his party to an increased majority of eight seats in the lower house during the 2018 election, and to a third landslide victory at the 2022 election again increasing the party's majority in the house. Significant historical events during Andrews's time as premier included the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Andrews has been described as "the dominant political figure of his generation in Victoria, with considerable influence nationally". Major accomplishments of his government included the Big Build infrastructure projects, rental law reforms, voluntary assisted dying, legalisation of medicinal cannabis, adoption reforms, sex work decriminalisation, first nations treaties, safe injection rooms, compensation reform for victims of institutionalised child-sex abuse, and the introduction of exclusion zones for protests outside abortion clinics. Issues raised during his leadership include the heavy handed response to the pandemic, where the lockdown of public housing towers occurred.Early life and education
Andrews was born 6 July 1972 in Williamstown Hospital, in south-western Melbourne. His parents, Bob and Jan Andrews, were both bank workers who lived in and later owned a milk bar in Glenroy. Andrews has a younger sister, Cynthia. Both Andews and his sister were raised as devout Catholics and attended church every Sunday.
After an explosion in a neighbouring shop gutted the family business, Bob started working for Don Smallgoods as a delivery driver. In 1983, the family moved to Wangaratta in north-eastern Victoria, where Bob was offered a delivery round by Don and where Jan went back to work for a bank. In Wangaratta, Andrews was educated at the Marist Brothers' Galen Catholic College.
Andrews moved back to Melbourne in the 1990s to attend Monash University, where he was a resident of Mannix College. He supported his studies by selling hotdogs near a nightclub. While at university Andrews joined the Labor Party and became a part of the Socialist Left faction. Andrews graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in politics and classics in 1996. In 1995, Andrews became an electorate officer for federal Labor MP Alan Griffin. He worked at the party's head office from 1999 to 2002, initially as an organiser, and then as assistant state secretary.Early political career
Bracks Government (2002–2007)
Upon his election to parliament in the Legislative Assembly seat of Mulgrave at the 2002 election, Andrews was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Health in the Steve Bracks Labor government. Following the 2006 election, Andrews was appointed to the Cabinet, becoming Minister for Gaming, Minister for Consumer Affairs and Multicultural Affairs. In her biography on Andrews, Sumeyya Ilanbey writes that Labor figures have stated that during his time as Gaming Minister "Andrews' enduring relationship with influential businesspeople began".Brumby Government (2007–2010)
In 2007, Andrews became Minister for Health in the John Brumby Labor government.
In 2008, Andrews voted in favour of abortion law reform in Victoria. As Health Minister during the passing of the Abortion Law Reform Act 2008, Andrews sought counsel from senior church clergy who advised him that the act was contrary to Church teaching. Andrews replied that he "did not intend to be a Catholic health minister. It was my intention to be a Victorian health minister."Opposition (2010–2014)
Brumby resigned as leader of the Victorian Labor Party following the Labor defeat at the 2010 election, after 11 years of Labor governments. On 3 December 2010, Andrews was elected Victorian Labor Party leader, becoming Leader of the Opposition in Victoria, with former Deputy Premier Rob Hulls staying on as his deputy. Hulls resigned in early 2012 and was replaced as deputy by James Merlino. Labor took the lead in the polls in mid-2012 and held it for all but a few months until the election, though Andrews consistently trailed his Liberal counterparts, Ted Baillieu and Denis Napthine as preferred premier.2014 state election
Labor held 43 seats at dissolution but notionally held 40 after the redistribution of electoral boundaries. It thus needed a net gain of five seats to form government. At the election, Labor gained seven seats for a total of 47, a majority of two. The election was the first time since 1955 that an incumbent government was removed from office after a single term. In his victory speech, Andrews declared, "The people of Victoria have today given to us the greatest of gifts, entrusted to us the greatest of responsibilities, and bestowed upon us the greatest of honours. We will not let them down!" He started as premier on 4 December 2014.First term (2014–2018)
On winning office, Andrews government cancelled the East West Link project and initiated the Level Crossing Removal Project and the Melbourne Metro Rail Project. On 24 May 2016, Andrews made an official apology in parliament for gay men in Victoria punished during the time homosexuality was a crime in the state. It was decriminalised in 1981. In August 2018, Andrews announced plans to build the Suburban Rail Loop, connecting all major rail lines via Melbourne Airport.Ending ambulance dispute
Shortly after his taking office in 2014, Daniel Andrews ended the pay dispute with ambulance paramedics, which had started with the previous government. During the dispute, paramedics had protested by covering their ambulances with colourful slogans. The slogans were removed after Andrews promised to end the dispute.China
As Premier, Andrews priortised relations between with China and ministers were directed to visit in their official capacity. His government signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese government under the Belt and Road Initiative in October 2018, but kept its details secret until he released it five weeks later. The MoU involved cooperation on facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade, finance, people-to-people bonds, and the "Digital Silkroad". Cooperation was to be in the form of "dialogue, joint research, pilot programs, knowledge sharing, and capacity building". Andrews said at the time that the MoU "does not bind Victoria to be involved in any specific project or initiative" and "the government will consider both the Victorian and national interest before agreeing to be involved in any specific activity". On 21 April 2021, the Commonwealth Government used its veto powers to cancel the agreements made between Victoria and China under the Belt and Road Initiative.In September 2016, the Andrews Government privatised the Port of Melbourne for a term of 50 years in return for more than $9.7 billion.Euthanasia
On 20 September 2017, the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2017 was introduced into the Legislative Assembly of the Victorian Parliament by the Andrews Labor Government. The bill is modelled on the recommendations of an expert panel chaired by former Australian Medical Association president Professor Brian Owler. The proposed legislation was said by proponents to be the most conservative in the world and contain 68 safeguards including measures designed to protect vulnerable people from coercion and abuse, as well as a board to review each case. Labor and Coalition MPs were allowed a conscience vote on the Bill. The bill was debated in the lower house over three sitting days, passing the Assembly without amendment on 20 October 2017 after an emotional and tense debate which lasted more than 24 hours. The bill was passed by 47 votes to 37. The Bill finally passed through parliament, with amendments made in the Victorian Legislative Council, on 29 November 2017. In passing the bill, Victoria became the first state to legislate for voluntary assisted dying. The law received royal assent on 5 December 2017, and came into effect on 19 June 2019.2018 state election
At the November 2018 state election, Labor won a comprehensive victory, picking up an eight-seat swing for a total of 55 seats, tying Labor's second-best seat count in Victoria. The party recorded substantial swings in Melbourne's politically volatile eastern suburbs, which usually decide elections in Victoria. As the ABC's election analyst Antony Green put it, eastern Melbourne was swept up in a "band of red," exceeding the most optimistic projections. Labor also took a number of seats in areas considered Liberal heartland, including Baillieu's former seat of Hawthorn. It is only the fifth time that a Labor government has been reelected in Victoria.Second term (2018–2022)
In 2019, an independent tribunal granted Andrews an 11.8% salary increase, giving him a total salary of $441,000 and making him the highest-paid state premier in the country. Andrews received praise for his leadership during the 2019–20 Victorian bushfires. Andrews faced criticism and praise from various groups for his response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria. Andrews visited China again on a trade mission in 2023.