Ballarat leaders react to Daniel Andrews' resignation

Mr Andrews announced he would step down from his role as leader of the state and member for Mulgrave on September 26.

Over the past nine years of leadership he has been at the helm of a number of projects in Ballarat including infrastructure for transport, health and sporting facilities.

"We need to have leaders who have the capacity to look beyond a four-year election cycle," Committee for Ballarat chief executive Michael Poulton said.

He said projects like the Big Build, the West Gate Tunnel and level crossing removals had been an important part of the government's work.

"What we would want to see from our state government is that there is that future thinking in relation to the region because there are long term projects,'' he said.

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"Energy is one of them, transport is one and housing is one."

Mr Poulton said regardless of your politics, people could agree the role of premier was a complex one.

"I doubt anyone would underestimate the amount of complexity in this role and everything from major hospital builds, to infrastructure, to roads, to population growth, to energy," he said.

The increased number of trains to and from Ballarat as well as manufacturing work for places like Alstom and UGL were a key part of regional infrastructure upgrades over the past nine years.

In the lead-up to the 2014 election, where Mr Andrews was elected premier, Alstom workers were facing the possibility of shutting down.

Mr Poulton said there was always work to do in the transport space but big developments had succeeded.

"I think this is the time when we should be acknowledging and thanking the government for significant service," he said.

Former Ballarat East MP Geoff Howard said Mr Andrews "understood the whole build Victoria concept Labor had under Bracks upgrading rail".

"He understood you need to spend lots of money on expensive infrastructure for a growing Victoria which needs transport, health and also a whole range of other areas like fire services and education."

Bringing AFL to Eureka Stadium was first brought to the table by the Brumby Labor Government promise in 2010, but they later lost the election.

In 2014, following a grassroots campaign to "think big Ballarat", the Labor opposition brought the promise back to the table with a $30 million package to upgrade the stadium and bring two AFL games to the city.

After winning the election, Mr Andrews told The Courier it would be a big tourism drawcard.

The project would continue to develop over the following nine years and was to be the show piece in the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

While the games were cancelled in June, upgrades to the stadium will still go ahead.

Mr Poulton said ensuring the government delivers their games legacy promises will be an important part of their advocacy.

Other recent projects include the controversial GovHub Building, Keeping Ballarat Moving intersection upgrades and funding commitment for high schools in the region.

Healthcare for this region under Daniel Andrews has been about far more than hospital builds and the COVID-19 pandemic, retired Ballarat East MP Geoff Howard says.

Mr Howard worked closely with Mr Andrews, who was Victoria's health minister in the Brumby Labor Government from 2007-2010.

While Grampians Health Ballarat Base Hospital is undergoing a $595 million redevelopment, Mr Howard said Mr Andrews had played a key role in how the region's biggest healthcare provider had evolved for more than a decade.

This included the $55 million cancer centre investment in 2010, for what is now known as Ballarat Regional Integrated Cancer Centre, which is situated within the Base Hospital.

"He was sensational as health minister with complex issues, too," Mr Howard said.

"When he became opposition leader in 2010, he became a great leader to get the party back to government in just one term. Since then, there have been so many issues that have required an incredible strength of character.

"COVID was a huge challenge for him and he copped a lot of flack standing hard but trying to protect Victoria and the position of the government was right to take to care for people in the COVID pandemic as best we could."

Mr Howard retired from parliament in 2018, well before the pandemic. Mr Andrews played an instrumental and highly supportive role in helping to get Mr Howard elected to parliament in the 1999 election when Ballarat's Steve Bracks government toppled the Kennett Liberal Government.

Mr Howard said Mr Andrews had been a "very effective secretary" to oversee a wide range of issues that would have been great foundations for becoming a premier.

At a grassroots level in healthcare, Women's Health Grampians chief executive officer Marianne Hendron said the Andrews Government as a whole had made significant policy changes for the better in the past decade.

This included the 2015 announcement for Australia's first Royal Commission into Family Violence with all 227 recommendations adopted in January 2023.

Ms Hendron said this also tied in well with the 2020 Gender Equality Act, which helped set a benchmark for other governments to promote women's participation and greater flexibility in the workplace and careers.

"[The Royal Commission] was a very significant thing to take on board, prioritising and elevating family violence to the extent it needed to be, for family violence to be looked at and understood," she said.

"...These two things go hand-in-hand - there is evidence where greater gender equality can make family violence is less of an issue when there is more respect for women and gender equality."

Ms Hendron also pointed to more recent investments in women's health clinics and care, including sexual and reproductive health, which in term helped to emphasis gender equality.

"There are amazing women in government who are trailblazers and Daniel Andrews helped enable that," Ms Hendron said.

Mr Poulton said it needed to be reiterated how Mr Andrews would front the media every day, often for more than an hour, at the pandemic's height to update Victorians on COVID-19.

He said despite the difficult and unpopular decisions and never fully knowing how many Victorian lives were saved, what we did know was "thousands of millions of people" died worldwide from the virus.

Committee followed the premier's lead in a strong alliance with Ballarat civic and health leaders to rally this city's residents to be safe and get vaccinated.

"Regardless of your politics, you have to recognise the significance of his ability to communicate with Victorian people through a very very challenging time," Mr Poulton said.

"One of the legacy pieces of Daniel Andrews will be the stance he took in relation to COVID. It was an incredibly difficult period for all Victorians."

The Labor party will decide the state's leadership in a party-room vote at noon on Wednesday, September 26.

Deputy Premier and Bendigo East MP Jacinta Allan has confirmed she will be putting her hand up for the leadership role via a statement on X, formerly Twitter.

In a statement, City of Ballarat mayor Des Hudson thanked the Premier for "his service to Victoria".

"We look forward to working closely with the future premier of Victoria to ensure Ballarat continues to prosper."

Eureka MP Michaela Settle said in a statement she had seen the region transform under Mr Andrews' leadership.

"For our region, this means greater opportunities in education like free TAFE, a stronger health system with state-of-the-art Ballarat Base Hospital upgrades, and a fairer state for all," she said.

She said they would continue to work on delivering their housing statement and lowering the cost of living.

Ripon MP Martha Haylett said in a statement, new sporting facilities, local school upgrades and cheaper regional travel are among some of his legacy projects.

"Perhaps most important are his government's investments in local healthcare," she said.

Quote from Juliana Addison, Member for Wendouree.

Wendouree MP Juliana Addison said the last nine years have been shaped with a "progressive social agenda".

"By putting people first and doing what matters, Premier Andrews and his Labor Government have transformed our city and region by investing in infrastructure and creating jobs, making Ballarat an even better place to live. "

Western Victoria Liberal MP Joe McCracken said he has seen a lot of damage done to Victoria over the past nine years.

"It's gone from saga after saga ... with the debt we have amassed, the overruns of projects and the cancellation of the Commonwealth Games," he said.

Federal senator Sarah Henderson said the resignation announcement "brings to an end a very dark era for Victoria".

"Across regional Victoria, local communities are suffering from a failure to fix our roads and invest in better rail."

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