The phrase “never waste a day” was often repeated by the Victorian Labor government as it jumped from one progressive reform to another at a seemingly relentless pace.
But as one Labor MP quipped this week, “it’s been a while since you would have seen that on a press release”.
Indeed, most of Jacinta Allan’s tenure as premier has been spent unravelling several previously flagged reforms.
The latest – a decision to walk away from her predecessor Daniel Andrews’ commitment to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 by 2027 – has probably prompted the most outcry.
Several Indigenous organisations, legal experts and human rights groups were quick to describe the decision as a “betrayal” of Victoria’s most vulnerable children, a “heartless backflip”, “weak backdown” and a “capitulation” to the police, opposition and conservative media.
Nerita Waight, from the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, put it bluntly when she said Allan “caved to a scare campaign from Victoria police and the Herald Sun”, and warned neither would “reward the government for bending the knee”.
It’s true youth crime has been making headlines for months, largely due to some tragic events.
Labor ministers argue crimes allegedly committed by what has been identified as a small group of repeat youth offenders are hurting the party’s standing with voters.
“We do not want an election on law and order,” one said.
“It is probably the number one issue my office is hearing from constituents on. They do not trust that we are doing enough and there is a perception we care more about the perpetrators than the victims – which is absolutely incorrect but is proving incredibly hard to shake.”
While walking away from raising the age to 14 may be a signal to voters that they are “tough on crime”, crime statistics show that alleged offenders aged 10 to 13 are associated with a very small minority (1%) of all alleged offender incidents, compared to those aged 14-17 (10%) and adults (88%).
The premier herself stated there are now no children in custody aged under 14.
The proposed timing to raise the age to 14 was also years away.
“We couldn’t go to an election in 2026 with that question of whether we were going to raise the age hanging over our heads,” a senior Labor figure said.
“The Libs would have had a field day.”
It isn’t the only decision the government has made after a fear campaign – last week it was about reforming the state’s hospital network.
In the wake of the pandemic, the government commissioned experts to examine the fragmented nature of its 76 health services. The committee recommended a merger into 11 services, which would bring Victoria into line with other states, improve patient care and reduce costs.
But amid claims from the opposition it was undertaking “health cuts”, threats from hospital boards – who risked losing their own jobs in the merger process – and community outcry, the government backed out.
It said there would be no forced mergers and allowed hospitals to retain their boards. The government also topped up hospital’s budgets to the tune of $1.5bn – a huge figure for a government trying to reduce a ballooning debt.
Several Labor MPs at the time said concerns the party could be seen as “losing” on the issue of health had prompted cabinet to agree to a “pared-back” response to the report.
Before that, there was the scrapping of plans to open a second injecting room in Melbourne’s CBD in April (rejecting a key recommendation from another expert review but vehemently opposed by sections of the media), and a decision to ignore a government-led inquiry’s recommendation to ban duck hunting.
In October 2023, the government ditched proposed changes to youth bail in favour of a trial of ankle bracelets.
The attorney general, Jaclyn Symes, at the time conceded “public perceptions of a youth crime crisis” influenced the decision.
The culmination of all these decisions has led to discontent within Labor ranks.
While those in cabinet argue the premier has shown she is able to “solve problems”, “make tough decisions” and “appeal to the middle ground”, Labor MPs who were supportive of the change argue the government is at risk of “losing all our progressive credentials”.
“Contrary to what some newspapers may think, Daniel Andrews actually won us elections,” one MP said. “They argued against us then and they will continue to argue against us now even if we capitulate to all their demands.”
Another said Allan had failed to “manage the narrative” as effectively as the former leader and risked becoming “reactive to every scare campaign rather than running her own”.
As she looks to mark one year in the job next month, they hope she will begin to chart her own way forward.
