Daniel Andrews has announced his resignation as Victorian premier after nearly nine years in the state’s top job.
On Tuesday, Andrews addressed the media outside parliament and said he would visit Government House and resign as premier and as the member for the state seat of Mulgrave effective as of 5pm on Wednesday.
“It has been the honour and privilege of my life,” he said.
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“Victorians have endorsed me and my team in record terms. I am very proud of that and I am very grateful for that. I am also proud to think of all that we have achieved over these nine years.
“In good times, and bad, always working hard to do whats right, not simply whats popular.”
Andrews said in speaking to his wife Catherine and children, he knew it was time to pass the “amazing responsibility” to someone else.
“The only way that I know how to do this job is to have it consume me, to have it define me. To a certain extent, every waking moment is about the work and that takes a toll,” he said.
On being asked how he will start resignation, Andrews said he will take some time off to spend with his family, play golf and read the pile of books that has built up in his home.
Andrews has been leader of the Labor Party since December 2010 and premier since December 2014.
He was minster for gaming and also for multicultural affairs in the Steve Bracks Labor government from 2002 to 2007.
The 50-year-old father-of-three then became health minister when John Brumby was victorious in 2007, and introduced a bill to state parliament to decriminalise abortion the following year.
In his past term as premier, Andrews was widely praised for his handling of the devastating Black Summer bushfires in 2019 and 2020, but his leadership became divisive during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Victoria spent 262 days in lockdown and lived with a curfew, as well as a “Ring of Steel” separating Melbourne from the regions, a 5km travel radius and strict mask rules.
More to come…