There will be no bronze Daniel Andrews outside Treasury Place. Premier Ben Carroll announced on Saturday that the planned statue of his predecessor-but-one will not go ahead, ending the 27-year-old policy that put it in train and directing work on the sculpture to cease.
In its place, an "independent and bipartisan" panel will review how Victoria commemorates its officials — statues, state funerals and memorial services alike. The $134,000 commission itself is not being cancelled, which Mr Carroll framed as "avoiding unnecessary costs to taxpayers": the panel has instead been asked to recommend a different subject, and a different location, for the work already under way.
Mr Carroll's statement managed the considerable feat of scrapping a statue of Daniel Andrews without saying the words "Daniel Andrews" — the man immortalised-no-longer is referred to only as "Victoria's 48th premier". "We are grateful to former premiers for their service," the Premier said. "But gratitude does not require a taxpayer-funded statue." And, in a line that will presumably feature between now and polling day: "I respect your money. That means being careful and deliberate about how government spends it."
The 3,000-day club
The statue was never a personal indulgence — it was policy. Ahead of the 1999 election, then-premier Jeff Kennett introduced an arrangement that automatically recognised any Victorian premier who served more than 3,000 days with a bronze at Treasury Place. Four were made: Sir Albert Dunstan, Sir Henry Bolte, Sir Rupert Hamer and John Cain junior, all sculpted, the ABC notes, by Peter Corlett, one of Australia's leading figurative sculptors. Kennett himself fell short of the milestone. So, in a quirk both sources note, did no-one tell Sir James McCulloch — who cleared 3,000 days across four non-consecutive terms in the 1860s and 1870s and has no statue to show for it.
Mr Andrews, premier from 4 December 2014 to 27 September 2023, passed the threshold three years ago, and the statue has been an argument ever since. The Allan government commissioned the work in March; the Guardian reports work began in May, with Meridian Sculpture — which it describes as the company behind the four existing premier bronzes — selected through a standard procurement process.
An argument the opposition was already winning
The cost had become a fixture of Coalition attack lines. Opposition Leader Jess Wilson pledged on 30 July that "if we come to government we will not allow that statue to proceed", writing that "Victorians are fed up with Labor's waste – that's why it's time for a Government that treats your money with respect." With the state election set for November 28, Mr Carroll's announcement removes the prop from the opposition's argument — though neither source reports him linking the decision to the campaign.
The reaction from the policy's own author was double-edged. Mr Kennett told the ABC the decision was prudent given how recently Mr Andrews left office — and then went further: "I wasn't surprised that Jacinta Allan commissioned the sculpture, as Daniel Andrews was her mentor. I was surprised, however, that Daniel chose to accept such an honour when he's only been out of office after such a short period of time."
Not everyone thinks retiring the tradition is a win. Emeritus Professor of Politics at Monash University Paul Strangio told the ABC it may have been prudent merely to postpone the statue, given the "atmospherics around his governing record have become so febrile and there are threats that the statue would be defaced" — but that "cancelling the statue altogether and breaking with the tradition of commemorating our long serving premiers seems a retrograde step if we are interested in marking the state's political history."
Kennett's candidate for the empty plinth: Dolly Parton
Since the commission is now destined for a different subject, Mr Kennett has a nomination ready. The 1999 statues, he said, were part of a broader arts initiative — "it wasn't just the recognition of long-serving premiers; a range of other sculptures were commissioned, including one of Sidney Myer at the Myer Music Bowl" — and he suggested the panel commission a statue of the late country music star Dolly Parton for the Music Bowl: "a worthwhile addition near the music bowl as an inspiration to many musically."
Mr Andrews had not commented on the decision at the time of writing. He may not need to — his position is on the record. When the milestone was reached in 2023, he said there was "no magic" to 3,000 days, and offered a line that now reads like a caption for the statue that never was: "People who spend a lot of time talking about legacy usually spend not enough time actually building one."
