“She has the smarts. You can’t last in politics for 25 years without that.” Jacinta Allan is widely tipped to become Victorian’s next Labor premier, but you won’t hear her admit it. | annikasmethurst
She’s tipped to be Victoria’s next premier, but Jacinta Allan isn’t tempted to fall into the trap of exposing any leadership ambitions.
Allan is a self-confessed goody two shoes, and caucus colleagues describe her as diligent, dutiful and even boring. She has studiously avoided controversy and, according to staff, prides herself on being on top of her portfolios of transport infrastructure, Suburban Rail Loop and delivering the Commonwealth Games.In many ways, Allan’s approach to her political career was shaped by her arrival at Spring Street at the age of 26. “I was conscious that I was a very young woman,” she says.
After leaving school she studied Arts at La Trobe University in Bendigo after missing out on a journalism cadetship at the. It was there she joined the Labor Party, travelling to Melbourne on weekends for party events with her Labor Party contemporaries including Daniel Andrews, former attorney-general Jill Hennessy and federal Labor politicians Andrews Giles and Julian Hill.
She is guarded about her two children, who are 10 and eight years old, but says becoming a mother changed her approach to politics. Friends say Allan and husband Piper have raised “beautifully balanced kids” despite the unrelenting demands of her job. Recalling daily – sometimes hourly – conversations with Allan between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, Weimar praises Allan for engaging with the problem, not avoiding it. “It was a really difficult time, none of us wanted to be there,” he says.
“It was about making sure that when you were given the opportunity to speak or present that you could show that you could do it.” But that work ethic hasn’t always shielded her from political storms. It’s a view not shared by Andrews, but colleagues say he is aware of it. When asked to explain the undercurrent of hostility, supporters argue it is driven by envy or sexism, rather than reality. And her actions often challenge the perception.
As a product of the party machine, Allan is unashamed about her priorities: Bendigo, Victoria and Labor. But she is a politician driven by outcomes, not necessarily ideology.
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