Controversial plans for a Daniel Andrews sculpture officially scrapped by Victorian government

The $134,000 cost of the statue of the former Victorian premier has been heavily criticised by the Liberal opposition Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The Carroll government in Victoria has cancelled controversial plans for a statue of former Labor premier Daniel Andrews. Work began in May on the statue commemorating the former premier’s more than 3,000 days in office, as part of a 1999 policy recognising long-serving Victorian premiers. But the premier, Ben Carroll, announced an end to the Kennett government policy on Saturday, appointing an independent panel to review how Victoria commemorates officials with statues and state services. He directed work on the Andrews statue to cease. “We are grateful to former premiers for their service. But gratitude does not require a taxpayer-funded statue,” Carroll said. “I respect your money. That means being careful and deliberate about how government spends it.” The policy automatically recognising long-serving Victorian premiers with a statue on Treasury Place was introduced ahead of the 1999 state election by then-premier Jeff Kennett. Kennett himself fell short of the milestone. The “independent and bipartisan