1. Daniel Michael Andrews was born on 6 July 1972 and is an Australian former politician who served as the 48th premier of Victoria from 2014 to 2023.
46 Facts About Daniel Andrews
1. 2.
Daniel Andrews held office as the leader of the Victorian branch of the Australian Labor Party from 2010 and was a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly for the district of Mulgrave from 2002 until his resignation in 2023.
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Daniel Andrews entered the Bracks Ministry in 2006, serving as the Minister for Consumer Affairs.
4.
Whilst in opposition, Daniel Andrews was elected Leader of the Labor Party in Victoria, and became Leader of the Opposition.
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Daniel Andrews led his party to an increased majority of ten seats in the lower house during the 2018 election, and to a third landslide victory at the 2022 election again increasing the party's majority in the house.
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Daniel Andrews is regarded a prominent figure among progressive politicians in Australia.
7.
Daniel Andrews was born in Williamstown, a southwestern suburb of Melbourne, to Bob.
8.
Daniel Andrews moved back to Melbourne in 1990 to attend Monash University, where he was a resident of Mannix College and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in politics and classics in 1996.
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Daniel Andrews worked at the party's head office from 1999 to 2002, initially as an organiser, and then as assistant state secretary.
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Daniel Andrews is a member of the Socialist Left faction of the Labor Party.
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In 2007, Daniel Andrews became Minister for Health in the John Brumby Labor government.
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In 2008, Daniel Andrews voted in favour of abortion law reform in Victoria.
13.
On 3 December 2010, Daniel Andrews was elected Victorian Labor Party leader, becoming Leader of the Opposition in Victoria, with former Deputy Premier Rob Hulls staying on as his deputy.
14.
Labor took the lead in the polls in mid-2012 and held it for all but a few months until the election, though Daniel Andrews consistently trailed his Liberal counterparts, Ted Baillieu and Denis Napthine as preferred premier.
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On winning office, Daniel Andrews government cancelled the East West Link project and initiated the Level Crossing Removal Project and the Melbourne Metro Rail Project.
16.
On 24 May 2016, Daniel Andrews made an official apology in parliament for gay men in Victoria punished during the time homosexuality was a crime in the state.
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Shortly after his taking office in 2014, Daniel Andrews ended the pay dispute with ambulance paramedics, which had started with the previous government.
18.
The slogans were removed after Daniel Andrews promised to end the dispute.
19.
The Daniel Andrews government signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese government under the Belt and Road Initiative in October 2018, but kept its details secret until he released it five weeks later.
20.
Daniel Andrews said at the time that the MoU "does not bind Victoria to be involved in any specific project or initiative" and "the government will consider both the Victorian and national interest before agreeing to be involved in any specific activity".
21.
Daniel Andrews faced criticism and praise from various groups for his response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria.
22.
In 2018, the Daniel Andrews government oversaw the Privatisation of the Land Titles and Registry office for $2.8 billion.
23.
In 2022, the Daniel Andrews government oversaw the privatisation of the operation of the registration and licensing part of VicRoads.
24.
In early August 2020, following a spike in COVID-19 infections in Victoria with up to 750 new infections detected per day, Daniel Andrews declared a State of Disaster and announced Stage 4 lockdown rules for 31 metropolitan Melbourne municipalities and Stage 3 rules for regional parts of the state.
25.
In October 2021, Daniel Andrews was fined $400 for breaching face mask rules on two occasions, in both cases he walked through a car park at Parliament House to his press conference without wearing a mask.
26.
Daniel Andrews's popularity remained high and the daily media conferences he gave to explain his position and reasoning were a television ratings hit.
27.
Several media outlets and commentators have accused News Corp of biased reporting against Daniel Andrews, including former prime minister Kevin Rudd.
28.
Daniel Andrews led the Victorian Labor Party to a further emphatic victory over the Liberal party at the 2022 election, securing a third term as Premier and for the Labor Party.
29.
Daniel Andrews became the longest-serving Labor Premier in Victoria's history in April 2023, overtaking John Cain Jr.
30.
Daniel Andrews pledged to re-establish the state-owned State Electricity Commission, remove a total of 110 Level Crossings, establish free kindergarten and commence construction on the Suburban Rail Loop and SRL Airport Line during his third term.
31.
At a media conference on 26 September 2023, Daniel Andrews announced his resignation as premier, leader of the Victorian Labor Party, and member for Mulgrave, to take effect the following day at 5pm.
32.
Daniel Andrews cited thoughts of life following his premiership, which he felt meant "it is time to go".
33.
Daniel Andrews was succeeded as premier and party leader by his deputy Jacinta Allan after she was elected unopposed by the Labor caucus.
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Daniel Andrews is one of the few state politicians in Australia to have never spent a day on the backbench.
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Daniel Andrews spent his entire tenure in the Legislative Assembly as a junior minister, minister, opposition leader, and premier.
36.
Daniel Andrews has been a member of the Labor Left faction since he joined the party in 1993.
37.
Daniel Andrews has furthermore been a long time republican, and supports abolishing Australia's constitutional monarchy in favour of a federal republic.
38.
On 24 May 2016, Daniel Andrews issued a formal apology on behalf of the Victorian Government, to the LGBT community, and specifically members of the community who had been charged with homosexual offences and crimes in the state prior to the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1981.
39.
Premier Daniel Andrews said in a speech to the Victorian Parliament:.
40.
Daniel Andrews has somewhat conservative views towards illicit drugs, being against the decriminalisation of recreational marijuana, and against pill testing at music festivals.
41.
On 18 October 2024, Daniel Andrews was appointed as the chair of Orygen, a youth mental health foundation.
42.
Daniel Andrews had a Roman Catholic upbringing, although he rarely attends church.
43.
Daniel Andrews was taken to hospital where he was placed under intensive care.
44.
Daniel Andrews suffered several broken ribs and a broken vertebra from the fall.
45.
Deputy Premier James Merlino was the Acting Premier until Daniel Andrews returned on 28 June 2021.
46.
Daniel Andrews continued to carry out his duties from isolation, and made a full recovery.