Carroll tells premier he is ready to run for leadership
Deputy Premier Ben Carroll has advised the premier that he intends to be a candidate for leadership in the event of a spill.
A group of ministers and MPs met with Jacinta Allan this morning and urged her to stand down.
Following that meeting, they met with Carroll and urged him to step forward as a contender.
Carroll then advised the premier that he would do so in the event of a spill, likely to unfold at a caucus meeting on Tuesday.
Among those in the delegation were ministers Anthony Carbines, Gabrielle Williams, Ingrid Stitt, Lizzie Blandthorn, Luba Grigorovitch, Colin Brooks, and factional conveners Ella George and Mat Hilakari.
Three Labor sources confirmed the meeting to The Age.
One MP said the delegation included “cross factional ministers and MPs” and they had gone to see the premier “to let her know that she has lost the majority of support in caucus and have urged the premier to stand down”.
Allan was defiant, telling MPs she has no intention to stand down.
One Labor source said the “numbers are overwhelming”.
Cabinet was scheduled to meet at 11am but will be severely compromised given some attendees were part of the delegation.
Ministers have refused to resign their posts.
Labor ministers depart parliament offices after key leadership meeting
Labor ministers have begun leaving their ministerial offices, a sign the cabinet meeting that began this morning concluded earlier this afternoon.
Ministers from the premier’s own Left faction, Gabrielle Williams and Ingrid Stitt, departed in separate cars. They were among the delegation of MPs to urge Jacinta Allan to resign this morning.
Other ministers to depart their offices in the past 30 minutes included Attorney General Sonya Kilkenny and Road Safety Minister Melissa Horne.
‘Changing the leader will not change the problems’: Opposition
Victorian shadow attorney-general James Newbury said a state government led by Ben Carroll would be plagued by the same problems as those faced during Jacinta Allan’s premiership.
Speaking outside the government’s ministerial offices at state parliament — where this morning a delegation of MPs urged the premier to step down — Newbury said Carroll would not act on Big Build corruption nor on improving the state’s justice system.
“Changing the leader will not change the problems that Victorians face,” Newbury said.
Newbury urged Labor MPs to vote for a no confidence motion against Allan in parliament tomorrow and trigger an early election.
“Victorians deserve a say. They don’t need a second unelected premier,” he said.
‘I can look you in the eye’: Ben Carroll’s six weeks to a broken vow
Just six weeks after Ben Carroll looked Jacinta Allan in the eye and said he would not try to take the premier’s job, he has nominated himself for the leadership of the Victorian Labor Party.
Facing down speculation in June, Carroll and Allan appeared alongside each other at an awkward press conference in a bid to put the leadership rumblings to bed.
When a reporter asked Carroll, “Are you going to try to get the premier’s job tomorrow?” he replied: “No.”
Carroll was then asked, “Are you going to ask her to step aside?”
Who do the voters prefer?
As MPs weigh up who should lead Labor into the November election, who do voters prefer?
Back in April, The Age polled Victorians on their preferred Labor leader.
Jacinta Allan was the favoured choice for 18 per cent of respondents, Ben Carroll was at 13 per cent, while transport minister Gabrielle Williams polled 10 per cent.
Fifty-nine per cent said they were unsure, or preferred none of the options presented.
‘The stakes are too high’: Carroll breaks silence
Deputy Premier Ben Carroll has confirmed he will nominate for the leadership of the Labor Party in a public statement.
In a post on X, Carroll said he had been visited by a group of his colleagues who told him Allan no longer had the support of the caucus and asked him to nominate for the leadership.
“It is clear that the premier has lost the majority of our caucus. As such, I have since visited the premier to inform her that I will be nominating for the leadership of the Labor Party,” he said.
“This decision is not easy, but the stakes at the upcoming election are simply too high.
“The prospect of a Liberal-One Nation Government that will cut schools, health and front line services is simply too high a risk to ignore.”
The most awkward cabinet meeting of Allan’s reign begins
We have reached the “well, that’s a bit awkward” stage of the Victorian leadership crisis, with the convening of what may be Jacinta Allan’s last cabinet meeting.
The 11.15am meeting has a group of ministers who have just told Allan she no longer has their confidence at the same table as the premier, who earlier this morning asked a bunch of them to resign.
Deputy Premier Ben Carroll, who has declared himself a candidate to be Victoria’s next premier if the current leadership is spilled, is also at the meeting.
About an hour before the meeting, ministers Gabrielle Williams, Anthony Carbines. Ingrid Stitt, Lizzie Blandthorn, Luba Grigorovitch and Colin Brooks were part of a cross-factional delegation who went to see the premier to say her time is up.
In pictures: A morning of escalating tension
Labor ministers, including two who privately urged the premier to resign, passed a waiting group of photographers and TV cameras as they arrived at their ministerial offices at Treasury Place this morning.
Among them were Minister for Health infrastructure Melissa Horne, Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio, Mental Health Minister Ingrid Stitt and Industry Minister Colin Brooks.
Brooks and Stitt were among a cross-factional delegation who met with Premier Jacinta Allan this morning and called on her to stand down.
Allan tells ministers to resign after they demand premier quit
When Allan met with a delegation of Labor MPs this morning, she responded to their call for her to stand down by telling the ministers in the group to resign.
Those present included Gabrielle Williams and Ingrid Stitt, from the premier’s own Left faction, and Right faction ministers Anthony Carbines, Lizzie Blandthorn, Luba Grigorovitch and Colin Brooks.
They refused to step down.
One Labor source, speaking on the condition of anonymity to detail internal deliberations, said: “The only person who needs to resign is the premier.”
Carroll tells premier he is ready to run for leadership
Deputy Premier Ben Carroll has advised the premier that he intends to be a candidate for leadership in the event of a spill.
A group of ministers and MPs met with Jacinta Allan this morning and urged her to stand down.
Following that meeting, they met with Carroll and urged him to step forward as a contender.
Carroll then advised the premier that he would do so in the event of a spill, likely to unfold at a caucus meeting on Tuesday.
‘I wish to notify you of my intention’: Read the letter in full
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
