Planned statue of ex-Victorian premier Daniel Andrews scrapped

A statue tribute to former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has been jettisoned, with his successor Ben Carroll commissioning an independent panel to review how Victoria commemorates former leaders.Bronze statues of four former premiers were erected in the late 1990s in Melbourne's Treasury Place as part of a Kennett government initiative to recognise premiers who served more than 3,000 days in office.However, Mr Carroll confirmed today that 'an independent and bipartisan panel' would review how Victoria commemorated officials with state services and statues, essentially scrapping the planned statue of Mr Andrews who served as Victoria's premier from 2014 to 2023.Victorian Premier Ben Carroll was elected state Labor leader in July, replacing Jacinta Allan ahead of the November election. (ABC News: Tara Whitchurch)Mr Carroll did not mention Mr Andrews by name in the statement, only referring to the long-serving state Labor leader as "Victoria's 48th premier"."I respect your money. That means being careful and deliberate about how government spends it," he said."State funerals are special and moving tributes. Part of what makes them special is their rarity."We are grateful to former premiers for their service. But gratitude does not require a taxpayer-funded statue."The statue project has been a source of political debate since Mr Andrews passed the 3,000-day milestone three years ago.Opposition Leader Jess Wilson had previously pledge to scrap the proposed statue of Mr Andrews if the Coalition won government at the November state election.Mr Carroll confirmed the existing Andrews statue contract would not be cancelled, "avoiding unnecessary costs to taxpayers".Instead, the soon-to-be-operational independent panel has been asked to recommend an alternative subject and location for the commissioned work.Former Liberal premier Jeff Kennett commissioned a series of bronze statues for Treasury Place in the late 1990s.A bronze statue of former Victorian premier John Cain is situated outside Treasury Place, the Melbourne offices of Victoria's premier and senior ministers. (ABC News: Scott Jewell)Posthumous statues of Sir Albert Dunstan (Country Party: 1935-43; 1943-45) and Sir Henry Bolte (Liberal Party: 1955-72) were created by one of Australia's leading figurative sculptors, Peter Corlett, in 1999 for the project.A further two statues — of Sir Rupert Hamer (Liberal Party: 1972-81) and John Cain junior (1982-90), who were both alive at the time of the unveiling — were also created by Corlett for the 1999 commission.Sir James McCulloch also served more than 3,000 days as Victorian premier over four non-consecutive terms in the 1860s and 1870s, but is not recognised with a bronze effigy with the four other statesmen.Mr Kennett and Melbourne Lord Mayor Nick Reece have both previously called for a statue to commemorate Joan Kirner, who served less than two years in office but has the historical distinction of being Victoria's first female premier.Joan Kirner became Victoria's first female premier when she replaced John Cain as Labor leader in 1990. She lost in a landslide to Jeff Kennett at the 1992 state election. (Public Records Office of Victoria)Mr Andrews is yet to publicly comment on the statue decommissioning, but said at the time of the 3,000-day milestone that he did not seek to have a permanent bronze likeness erected in Treasury Gardens."That (3,000 days) is a milestone that was dreamt up by former premier Kennett. From my point of view, there's no magic to that day," he said in 2023."It will just be another day where we get on and deliver on all the things we said we'd do."