Daniel Andrews

The Honourable
Daniel Andrews
MP
48th Premier of Victoria
Elections: 2014
Assumed office
4 December 2014
Monarch Elizabeth II
Governor Alex Chernov
Linda Dessau
Deputy James Merlino
Preceded by Denis Napthine
Leader of the Labor Party in Victoria
Assumed office
3 December 2010
Deputy Rob Hulls
James Merlino
Preceded by John Brumby
Leader of the Opposition in Victoria
In office
3 December 2010 – 4 December 2014
Premier Ted Baillieu
Denis Napthine
Deputy Rob Hulls
James Merlino
Preceded by Ted Baillieu
Succeeded by Matthew Guy
Minister for Health
In office
3 August 2007 – 2 December 2010
Premier John Brumby
Preceded by Bronwyn Pike
Succeeded by David Davis
Minister for Gaming
In office
1 December 2006 – 3 August 2007
Premier Steve Bracks
Preceded by John Pandazopoulos
Succeeded by Tony Robinson
Minister for Consumer Affairs
In office
1 December 2006 – 3 August 2007
Premier Steve Bracks
Preceded by Marsha Thomson
Succeeded by Tony Robinson
Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly
for Mulgrave
Assumed office
20 November 2002
Preceded by District re-established
Personal details
Born Daniel Michael Andrews
(1972-07-06) 6 July 1972
Williamstown, Victoria, Australia
Political party Labor Party
Spouse(s) Catherine Andrews (m. 1998)
Children 3 (Joseph, Grace and Noah)
Alma mater Monash University
Website danielandrews.com.au

Daniel Michael Andrews (born 6 July 1972) is an Australian politician who is the 48th Premier of Victoria, a post he has held since 2014. He has been the leader of the Victorian branch of the Labor Party since 2010, and from 2010 to 2014 was Leader of the Opposition in that state. Andrews was elected member for the Legislative Assembly seat of Mulgrave at the 2002 election, and served as a parliamentary secretary and minister in the Steve Bracks and John Brumby Labor governments.[1][2] On 29 November 2014, he was elected Premier of Victoria after the ALP won the state election, defeating the incumbent Liberal government.[3]

Early life

Andrews was born in Williamstown, a suburb of Melbourne, to Bob Andrews (1950–2016) and Jan (born 1944). In 1983 his family moved to Wangaratta, where he was educated at the Marist Brothers' Galen Catholic College.[1] Andrews moved back to Melbourne in 1990 to attend Monash University, where he was a resident of Mannix College and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in politics and classics in 1996. After graduating, 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.[2]

Early political career (2002–2010)

Following 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 Minister Assisting the Premier on Multicultural Affairs. In 2007, Andrews became Minister for Health in the John Brumby Labor government.[4] In 2008, Andrews voted in favour of abortion law reform in Victoria.[5]

As opposition leader (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.[6] 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 (2010-2013) and Denis Napthine (2013-2014) as preferred premier.

Premier of Victoria (2014–present)

Labor held 43 seats at dissolution but notionally held 40 after the redistribution of electoral boundaries. It thus needed a swing to win five seats to form government. At the election, Labor gained seven seats for a total of 47, a majority of eight.[7] 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!"[8] He was sworn in as premier on 4 December.

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.[9]

In August 2018 Andrews announced plans to build a $50 billion suburban rail loop connecting all major rail lines via Melbourne Airport.[10]

Ending ambulance dispute

Shortly after his taking office in 2014 Daniel Andrews ended the state government's dispute with ambulance paramedics.[11] The dispute that had started with the previous state government did not go as far as strikes, due to the death toll that would result in such action. So the visible manifestation of the dispute was the protest style "colourful slogans"[11] on the side and back windows of the state's ambulances, which were removed after Andrews promised to end the dispute.

Port of Melbourne lease

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.[12]

Misuse of electoral officers

In September 2015, the Opposition announced it would refer the Andrews government to IBAC, the police, or a parliamentary enquiry over allegations that the Labor Party had misused taxpayer-funded electoral officers for party political campaigning in the leadup to the 2014 state election.[13] After an eight month investigation, Victoria Police said no criminal offence had been committed.[14] The Legislative Council referred the matter to the Victorian Ombudsman, after the Supreme Court confirmed it was within her jurisdiction, and the government lost several appeals against the referral.[15]

In March 2018, the Ombudsman released a report stating that Victorian Labor had wrongly used $387,842 of staff budget entitlements during the election campaign, breaching guidelines for the use of electoral staff.[16] The report identified 21 MPs (11 current MPs including six ministers) who had used the scheme, which had been devised by former Treasurer John Lenders. Andrews stated he was sorry the incidents had occurred, and that Labor had repaid the money.[15] The investigation was reopened in July.[17][18][19][20]

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.[21] Labor and Coalition MPs were allowed a conscience vote on the Bill.[22][23] 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[24] which lasted more than 24 hours.[25] The bill was passed by 47 votes to 37.[26] The Bill finally passed through parliament, with amendments made in the Victorian Legislative Council, on 29 November 2017.[27] In passing the bill, Victoria became the first state to legislate for voluntary assisted dying. The law, presuming it receives the formality of royal assent, will come into effect in mid-2019.[27]

Personal life

Andrews married in 1998 and lives in Mulgrave with their three children. Andrews is a self-described devout and practising Roman Catholic. 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".[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Hills, Ben. "The Contender". The Age, 26 June 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  2. 1 2 Daniel Andrews parliamentary profile, parliament.vic.gov.au
  3. ↑ "Daniel Andrews rises as Coalition swept from power". The Age Victoria. 30 November 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  4. ↑ Daniel Andrews Labor profile, ALPvictoria.com.au
  5. ↑ "Life Vote". lifevote.org.au.
  6. ↑ Labor's Daniel Andrews endorsed as State Opposition Leader, Herald Sun, 3 December 2010.
  7. ↑ "Electorates". ABC News.
  8. ↑ Victoria election 2014: Labor takes back government. ABC News, 2014-11-29.
  9. ↑ Priess, Benjamin Gay men receive apology more than 30 years after homosexuality decriminalised May 24, 2016 The Age Retrieved May 25, 2016
  10. ↑ https://www.afr.com/news/victorian-state-election-daniel-andrews-floats-plans-for-50b-suburban-rail-loop-20180828-h14lla
  11. 1 2 "'War' on ambulance paramedics over, declares Victoria's Premier-elect". 2014-12-01. Retrieved 2018-06-01.
  12. ↑ "Promise Delivered: Port Of Melbourne Leased To Remove Level Crossings And Create Thousands Of Jobs". 2016-09-19. Retrieved 2016-09-23.
  13. ↑ "Andrews denies Labor 'rorted' funds during election campaign". ABC News. 2 September 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  14. ↑ "Fraud squad clears Labor Party of misusing election staff". ABC News. 7 June 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  15. 1 2 "Victorian Labor staff scandal: What you need to know". ABC News. 22 March 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  16. ↑ "Victorian Labor misused $388k for election campaign staff: ombudsman". ABC News. 21 March 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  17. ↑ https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/police-reopen-probe-into-labor-red-shirts-rort-20180727-p4zu0g.html
  18. ↑ https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/criminal-investigation-comes-at-a-bad-time-for-andrews-government-20180727-p4zu3b.html
  19. ↑ https://www.sbs.com.au/news/new-vic-rorts-for-votes-investigation
  20. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/aug/02/arrested-victoria-labor-party-rorts-for-votes-investigation
  21. ↑ Edwards, Edwards (19 September 2017). "Victoria's assisted dying bill to hit Parliament, to be voted on by end of year". abc.net.au. Archived from the original on 20 September 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  22. ↑ "Premier's Department Historic Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill Now In Parliament". premier.vic.gov.au. 20 September 2017. Archived from the original on 20 September 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  23. ↑ Johnston, Matt; Hore, Monique (20 September 2017). "Assisted dying Bill before parliament includes safeguards to prevent encouraging euthanasia". heraldsun.com.au. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  24. ↑ Johnsoton, Matt; Alison, Genevieve (20 October 2017). "Voluntary euthanasia laws pass lower house in marathon session". heraldsun.com.au. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  25. ↑ "Historic euthanasia laws pass Victoria's lower house after marathon sitting". The Age. 20 October 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  26. ↑ "Euthanasia: Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill passes Victoria's Lower House after 26-hour debate". ABC News. 20 October 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  27. 1 2 "Euthanasia: Victoria becomes the first Australian state to legalise voluntary assisted dying". ABC News. 29 November 2017.
Victorian Legislative Assembly
District re-established Member of Parliament
for Mulgrave
2002–present		 Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Marsha Thomson		 Minister for Consumer Affairs
2006–2007		 Succeeded by
Tony Robinson
Preceded by
John Pandazopoulos		 Minister for Gaming
2006–2007
Minister assisting the Premier on Multicultural Affairs
2006–2007		 Succeeded by
James Merlino
Preceded by
John Thwaites		 Minister for Health
2007–2010		 Succeeded by
David Davis
Preceded by
Ted Baillieu		 Leader of the Opposition of Victoria
2010–2014		 Succeeded by
Matthew Guy
Preceded by
Denis Napthine		 Premier of Victoria
2014–present		 Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by
John Brumby		 Leader of the Labor Party in Victoria
2010–present		 Incumbent
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