{"id":550935,"date":"2026-03-19T16:52:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T16:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/550935\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T16:52:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T16:52:15","slug":"premier-faces-destabilisation-campaign-amid-labor-polling-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/550935\/","title":{"rendered":"Premier faces destabilisation campaign amid Labor polling concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

March 19, 2026 \u2014 7:00pm<\/p>\n

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Jacinta Allan was in royal company, sharing a toast and pleasantries with the King and Queen of Denmark within the lush surrounds of the Royal Botanic Gardens, when a message flashed across her phone that members of her own party were plotting against her leadership.<\/p>\n

Within minutes of scanning the contents of the first reports, she was abruptly transported from the grace of \u201cOur Queen Mary\u201d back to the grind of state politics, where leadership speculation is now likely to be a constant companion.<\/p>\n

\"JacintaJacinta Allan greets King Frederik and Queen Mary of DenmarkGetty Images<\/p>\n

Allan and her supporters are braced for a continuing campaign of destabilisation by Labor figures outside the parliament and a small group of MPs increasingly panicked about losing their seats when Victorians go to the polls.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Allan and a roll call of senior ministers batted away as \u201cidle gossip\u201d the first salvo of what is expected to be a barrage in the weeks leading up to the May state budget. The premier dismissed the source of speculation as \u201ca few scallywags out there who might need a bit of a cuddle\u201d.<\/p>\n

Allan\u2019s leadership was publicly endorsed by the two aspirants considered next in line for her job, Transport Infrastructure Minister Gabrielle Williams from the Left faction and Deputy Premier Ben Carroll from the Right.<\/p>\n

Carroll said he already had the job he wanted. Williams said: \u201cMy support is purely behind the premier and the wealth of experience and expertise that she brings to her role.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AllanAllan and Deputy Premier Ben Carroll in December.Alex Coppel<\/p>\n

This did not stop her from being touted by colleagues as holding the key to whether the campaign against Allan amounts to little or escalates into a full-blown leadership challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy suspicion is Jacinta won\u2019t be there at the election, but Gab has got to make the decision,\u201d said one Labor figure with knowledge of the internal party machinations. \u201cAs the person who would have the most support in the Left, she has to make a decision whether she is going to run or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JacintaJacinta Allan and Transport Infrastructure Minister Gabrielle Williams.Joe Armao<\/p>\n

If Williams does not seek the leadership for herself, her endorsement would be decisive in any challenge. \u201cShe would have to be involved one way or another,\u201d the Labor figure said. A successful challenge would need the support of the Right faction and a split in the dominant Left.<\/p>\n

A backer of the destabilisation campaign suggested that a group of MPs who crossed from the Right to Left faction with former treasurer Tim Pallas and Environment Minister Steve Dimopoulos after the 2022 election could back a challenge. Dimopoulos has angrily denied this to colleagues and has made clear he supports the premier, trashing the speculation as \u201cabsolutely ridiculous\u201d.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Williams has expressed her frustration to colleagues about repeatedly being linked to leadership speculation. There is no suggestion that either Carroll or Williams were involved in leaking purported research to the Herald Sun claiming Labor was on track to lose 20 seats at the election.<\/p>\n

The Victorian ALP has distanced itself from the polling claims. Internal party research is shared only with the party\u2019s head office and premier\u2019s office. Former ALP campaign director Kos Samaras denied rumours that the polling quoted by Allan\u2019s detractors was conducted by his Redbridge group.<\/p>\n

He described any move to oust Allan as \u201cpolitical suicide\u201d.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Victoria\u2019s<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThey are not going to solve their problem by rolling her because the one positive contrast they have with the Liberal Party is they don\u2019t chew through their leaders,\u201d Samaras said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem for Labor isn\u2019t Jacinta \u2013 it\u2019s voters sitting in the other columns who aren\u2019t happy with the government. They as a team need to work out how to fix that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several Labor MPs contacted by this masthead said the outbreak of leadership speculation was driven by an apparently small number of parliamentary colleagues \u2013 all of whom deny any active involvement \u2013 along with Left faction and union bosses convinced that Labor cannot win the next election under Allan.<\/p>\n

They predict the campaign will continue each time another damning poll result is published or when the caucus gathers in Spring Street while parliament sits. \u201cThere are a minority seeking change,\u201d one MP said. \u201cI\u2019m sure we\u2019ll have the same discussion next sitting week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Article\"One<\/a><\/p>\n

But one thought the premier could be just one more story away from a challenge.<\/p>\n

More broadly, the combination of 12 years in government, a fractious electorate punctuated by the unexpected rise of One Nation, a persistent high cost of living, Allan\u2019s deep unpopularity as premier and her inability to manage the fallout from the corruption scandal plaguing government major project sites have created fertile conditions for a leadership coup. Her personal approval rating had slumped to minus 37 in the last Resolve poll published by this newspaper, with only one in five respondents nominating her as their preferred premier.<\/p>\n

The premier had survived open talks during last year\u2019s federal election campaign that she could drag down the vote in Victoria, where federal Labor had unexpected success and bought Allan more time. But doubts about her leadership persisted and became furtive in the past few weeks.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Victorian<\/a><\/p>\n

One MP from Allan\u2019s Socialist Left, who fears losing their seat in November, described the mood as not at a crisis point, but not happy, either. Even her supporters express frustration at the government\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n

Any Labor MP who holds their seat on a single-figure margin could be out of a job if voting intentions expressed in published opinion polls are reflected in the election result.<\/p>\n

Labor\u2019s Socialist Left faction, which expanded under former premier Daniel Andrews at the expense of the Right, would need to fracture to give the Right enough support to topple Allan\u2019s leadership. But within the Right, there are MPs and ministers who still profess loyalty to Allan.<\/p>\n

One senior Right faction figure said a leadership change at this point would mean certain political death. \u201cWe just have to keep the show on the road,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

Another MP from the Left called on their colleagues to get back in line. \u201cThis government is like your favourite sweater. It\u2019s in pretty good shape, but all it takes is one idiot to pull a thread.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Victorian<\/a><\/p>\n

The Coalition, which has for many years been riven by its own existential disunity, sought to exploit Labor\u2019s unease in question time, in which Jess Wilson bypassed the premier and directed questions about corruption on government building sites to Carroll and Williams.<\/p>\n

Carroll ruled out the need for a royal commission into Big Build corruption while Williams, who has portfolio responsibility for Big Build projects, did not.<\/p>\n

Under Labor Party rules, instituted following the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd instability, a successful spill motion would need to go to state party members if the vote is contested.<\/p>\n

The best news for Allan is there are only eight sitting weeks remaining until the end of this parliament. There are also plenty more polls on the way, including the next Resolve Political Monitor survey, to be published in a month\u2019s time.<\/p>\n

Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"ChipChip Le Grand<\/a> leads our state politics reporting team. He previously served as the paper\u2019s chief reporter and is a journalist of 30 years\u2019 experience.Connect via email<\/a>.\"RachelRachel Eddie<\/a> is a Victorian state political reporter for The Age. Contact her at rachel.eddie@theage.com.au, rachel.eddie@protonmail.com, or via Signal at @RachelEddie.99Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.\"DaniellaDaniella White<\/a> is a state political reporter for The Age. Contact her at da.white@nine.com.auConnect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"March 19, 2026 \u2014 7:00pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550936,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-550935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550935\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/550936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}