Victorian premier Dan Andrews’ popularity plummets after gas ban and Commonwealth Games cancellation

Support for Daniel Andrews plummeted weeks after he decided to ban petrol in new homes and cancel the Commonwealth Games.

A new Troubleshoot Policy Monitor The survey dropped the Victorian government’s primary vote to 39%, down from the previous vote of 41%.

It is the lowest percentage the Andrews government has polled since reporting 36% in November last year.

But the Andrews government is still ahead of the Victorian opposition, whose primary vote rose to 28% from 26% in June.

The Victorian Liberal opposition was also plagued by scandals, infighting and a revolving door of leadership.

While support for the state’s Labor government has remained above the Liberal opposition, the clear sympathy between Mr Andrews and opposition leader John Pesutto is much closer.

Mr Andrews has fallen to a clear sympathy of minus seven, while Mr Pesuttio is at minus nine.

It is the first time that the Victorian Labor leader’s clear sympathy has entered negative territory as his popularity wanes.

Voters have always strongly backed Mr Andrews as the preferred prime minister, but the gap between him and Mr Pesutto has fallen to 15 percentage points in the latest poll.

The Victorian Premier stands at 44 percentage points while the Leader of the Opposition has jumped to 29 points.

It is the narrowest gap between the two Victoria leaders since Matthew Guy faced Mr Andrews in the last state election, where there was a 14 point difference.

Interestingly, the survey results were primarily determined by whether voters liked or disliked Mr Andrews.

Labor voters stuck with Mr Andrews because they saw him as a strong leader against a withered opposition that could not gain ground.

Those who supported the Coalition were fiercely opposed to Mr Andrews and strongly criticized his decisions during his tenure.

Mr Andrews’ most recent controversial decision banned new homes from connecting to natural gas, in a bid for Victoria to halve carbon emissions by 2030.

Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio and Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny announced the energy supply changes last month, with the policy due to come into effect on January 1, 2024.

In addition to residential housing, all new public buildings that have not yet reached the design stages by the deadline – including schools, police stations and hospitals – must be fully electric.

Commercial premises will be exempt.

The Andrews government hopes these new changes will save up to $1,000 on household energy bills each year.

It is also hoped that this will lead to cash savings as households will no longer need a gas connection.

The Victorian government has already signaled its intention to phase out the use of gas in residences.

The move came after Mr Andrews landed in hot water for sensationally scratching the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

Victoria has ditched hosting the Games in Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat, Gippsland and Shepparton over a projected cost explosion of up to $4.4 billion, having originally budgeted $2.6 billion for the 12-day event .

No other Australian state or territory came to the rescue, leaving Games organizers without a host three years from the event.

Taxpayers are set to fork out $4.5million in severance pay after the prime minister pulled the pin on the international sporting event.

The executive staff tasked with overseeing the event are set to receive big payouts now that the tournament is not taking place, Sky News Australia reports.

Sources told the TV station that each employee receives about $50,000.

This payment should cover four weeks of salary, plus benefits and entitlements.

These redundancies only scratch the surface of the total cost of removing the Games.