Victorian Premier Stands Firm Amid Leadership Challenge

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – MAY 20: Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan faces a leadership crisis after a cross-factional delegation of Labor MPs informed her she no longer had the support of the majority of the caucus.

Allan met the delegation of left and right faction MPs on July 27, where ministers and backbenchers urged her to resign.

Deputy Premier Ben Carroll, from Labor’s right faction, will likely contest the leadership.

A defiant Allan refused to stand down and wrote to Australian Labor Party State Secretary Steve Staikos confirming she will stand in any ballot.

“I refer to media speculation regarding the leadership of the State Parliamentary Labor Party. I am writing to request that you ensure Victorian Labor is prepared to conduct an election for the leadership of the State Parliamentary labor Party in the event an election if required,” Allan said in a letter seen by The Epoch Times.

“I also wish to formally notify you of my intention to be a candidate for the leadership of the State Parliamentary Labor Party, in the event that an election is required.”

Allan noted that party rules require the state secretary provide administrative support to ensure the ballot includes all eligible party members.

The letter will trigger a process that could take weeks, involving both the parliamentary party and rank-and-file members.

Had Allan agreed to step down, Carroll would have been able to run unopposed.

In a statement, Carroll said a group of his colleagues had approached him today to inform him that Allan no longer had the support of Caucus and had asked him to nominate for the leadership of the Victorian Parliamentary Labor Party.

“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 on X.

The ministers and MPs who approached Allan from the socialist left and right factions included Gabrielle Williams, Lizzie Blandthorn, Enver Erdogan, Luba Grigorovitch, Ingrid Stitt, Colin Brooks, Matt Hilakari and Ella George.

Liberal leader Jess Wilson said she did not mind facing either Allan or Carroll at the November 2026 election.

“It doesn’t matter,” she told reporters outside Parliament House on July 26.

“Ben Carroll is Jacinta Allan’s 2IC—he’s been sitting next to her in parliament, making the same decisions, supporting her decisions not to call a royal commission.”

Federal Shadow Defence Minister James Paterson said the “factional bosses” had finally caught up with Victorians’ desire for the premier to go.

“But in my view, it’s too little, too late. And a shift of horse at this very late minute to a new premier is not going to change anything fundamentally, particularly because Ben Carroll was Jacinta Allan’s Deputy Premier,” he said on the ABC.

Allan faces pressure from a surging One Nation.

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