Ballarat’s mayor says council will start work to build a relationship with whoever becomes Premier as soon as possible.
After nine years in the top job, Daniel Andrews will formally step down as Victoria’s premier at 5pm today, saying the job has consumed and defined him.
Mayor Hudson says he backs Jacinta Allan to be the state’s next Premier.
“You’ve got to go through a period of familiarizing yourself with the potential new Premier [and] if it is to be current minister Jacinta Allan, who I have met many, many times, I think she will do an exceptional job,” he said.
Mr. Hudson says he thinks Ballarat has fared pretty well in terms of investment in the city whilst Mr. Andrews has been in power, citing Mars Stadium and Her Majesty’s Theatre as two examples.
He hopes there’s more to come with whoever is named the next Victorian Premier.
“To be fair and to be honest I’d say we have enjoyed a good relationship with the State Government in terms of funding for projects for our early years [and] for our kindergarten expansion rollouts,” he said.
“We would hope those projects and that partnership opportunity continues as we go forward,” he said.
The CEO of the Committee for Ballarat, Michael Poulton, says there’s no hard feelings towards Mr. Andrews.
The Premier had been critical of the Committee, following the Senate inquiry into the Commonwealth Games cancellation.
Mr. Poulton says his only aim was to make sure the community’s message was heard.
“I think what did strike me at that time was the Premier chose to attack on that issue and I think we’re all at the stage right now in relation to the Commonwealth Games where it’s about reflecting and thinking about what comes next,” he said.
He says whoever becomes Victoria’s next Premier needs to understand the importance of the regions.
“We’d just like to think whoever is leading the state has an understanding that the entire state, including the regions, are really critical to our prosperity and success,” he said.
“Let’s make sure that our new Premier has that capacity to engage with regional Victoria as part of the broader state agenda.”
