Ben Carroll Scraps Bronze Dan Andrews Statue Claiming To Have Never Met The Guy

PETE CLARK | Melbourne | CONTACT

Victorian premier Ben Carroll has decided to scrap the controversial bronze statue of Daniel Andrews. 

Because of Jeff Kennett (though strangely he never takes credit for it) any Victorian premier who serves over 3000 days is eligible for a statue to commemorate their service.

In a bid to get some much needed good press, Carroll announced that his government would not proceed with the statue's construction. 

Quite bizarrely Mr Carroll has rejected the statue of Daniel Andrews claiming to ‘have never met the guy’.

Despite being in Parliament together for years and photographic evidence of the pair together, Carroll insists he never met the man behind the North Face. 

Speaking with The Advocate Mr Carroll wouldn't budge.

“Look you’ll have to take that up with my office but I’ve been very clear on this; never heard of him”

“The government that I lead is not the government of Jacinta Allan and is certainly not the government of this Daniel Andrews fellow you refer to”

“I lead a disciplined team who doesn’t even know what you’re talking about to be completely frank”

When reminded of the famous North Face jacket press conferences, the covid lockdowns and ‘Stair Gate’, Carroll doubled down. 

“Covid was a tough time for all Victorians, no doubt about it”

“That’s why my team are committed to good governance and transparency and why we won’t build a statue of someone that I haven’t even met”

“What we’re committed to is soft launching dental into medicare”

After being shown a printed out photograph of the pair clearly together Mr Carroll calmly changed course.

“AI is a powerful tool and could have easily been used to conjure something like the photo you’ve just presented to me”

“That’s why we’re also delivering data centres so that our state can be at the forefront of AI technology.”

More to come.