Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett has claimed the decision to hand Daniel Andrews the nation’s highest honour “failed all Australians,” as he called for the Council of the Order of Australia to “rescind” the award.
Mr Andrews was controversially included on the list, announced on Monday, with the former premier made a Companion of the Order of Australia for his “eminent service to the people and Parliament of Victoria, to public health, to policy and regulatory reform, and to infrastructure development.”
The decision sparked backlash given Mr Andrews had imposed draconian lockdown laws during the COVID-19 pandemic, whilst also overseeing a bungled hotel quarantine program that cost the lives of nearly 800 people during Victoria’s second wave.
Other critics also highlighted his handling of the state’s economy, which is being crushed by record debts, as well as numerous inquiries into his government by Victoria’s corruption watchdog.
Reacting to the news on Monday evening, Mr Kennett echoed those concerns as he warned awarding Mr Andrews with the honour sent a poor message to future state leaders.
“I didn’t believe it, I thought it was a joke, but when I looked further into it I’ve come to the conclusion that the chairperson of the Council of the Order of Australia, Shelley Reys, and the Governor General have both failed all Australians,” he told Sky News Australia.
“Giving (the honour) to an individual who, based on the criteria that was published today: health, infrastructure, has so demonstrably failed.
“So we are now giving the highest civilian award to an individual who has failed, we are recognising failure and that is unacceptable.”
Mr Kennett then honed in on infrastructure in the state, arguing “every major piece of infrastructure is running well over time and well over budget,” before highlighting the explosion in Victoria’s debt under the leadership of Mr Andrews.
A March report from global ratings agency S&P put the state’s debt at more than $126 billion, warning it could balloon further to $247.2 billion by 2027 and overwhelm all other government spending.
“Deficit states will borrow merely to meet interest outlays, creating a vicious feedback loop,” the report added.
Mr Kennett echoed those claims, maintaining the growing debt had left essential services in a “parlous” state, before going on to call for the Council of the Order of Australia to “rescind” Mr Andrews’ award.
“I have today written to the Governor General,” Mr Kennet revealed.
“I have asked the Governor General to rescind this honour. I’d also like to see how this award was given, made and considered.
“I would like to know why it took so quickly and whether, in fact, there has been political interference in him being granted this award.
“That wouldn’t be surprising, because the hallmark of Daniel’s premiership was just that: political interference overburdening the system.”
While the former premier conceded “I’m not holding my breath” about the chances Mr Andrews would be stripped of the honour, he maintained “a lot of people” had told him the award had been undermined by Monday’s decision.
Also speaking to Sky News Australia on Monday, Victorian independent MP David Limbrick echoed Mr Kennett’s arguments as he too questioned why Mr Andrews had been handed the honour.
“We had a situation where before the election there was a promise of a Commonwealth Games, then after the election, of course, ‘oh whoops it’s too expensive now, oh and by the way it cost $580 million’ that just got wasted,” he said.
“We’ve been left with a police force that’s demoralised and finding it hard to recruit. We’ve got a health system in disarray, with ramping all the time, again finding it hard to recruit.
“We’ve got debt up to the eyeballs and we’ve got to pay all this back.
“If that deserves an award I don’t know what sort of award it should be.”
Mr Limbrick also argued it was too soon to reward Mr Andrews given there had been “no reckoning” for his decisions taken while in power from 2014 until 2023, with not enough time having passed to see whether any of the former premier’s policies had actually improved outcomes in the state.