‘Same s—’: Bec Judd unleashes on new Victorian premier

Victoria’s new premier Ben Carroll is waking to his first full day on the job after he took the reins in a tumultuous party room meeting following predecessor Jacinta Allan’s resignation yesterday.

And one piece of criticism from model and influencer Bec Judd shows just one angle of the fight he has on his hands to turn Victorian Labor’s fortunes around.

Bec Judd, known for her criticism of the Victorian Labor government, said on Instagram Carroll was part of the same continuum.

“Never forget that this man sat side by side with Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan and was complicit in the downfall of Victoria,” Judd wrote on Instagram.

“Same s---. Different face.”

It’s not clear what Judd meant by Victoria’s “downfall” but she has been critical of the government’s handling of crime in the past.

For his part, Carroll said yesterday that regaining voters’ trust was his priority.

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When he announced his challenge for the Labor parliamentary leadership on Monday, Carroll said the decision to do so had not been easy but “the stakes are too high”.

“The prospect of a Liberal-One Nation government that will cut schools, health, and front line services is simply too high a risk to ignore,” he wrote.

Advocating the party record on education and health spending is straight from the ALP playbook, but there are some indications Carroll could be more than a symbolic break from his predecessors Jacinta Allan and Daniel Andrews.

Who is Ben Carroll?

Carroll, 51, was born in Airport West, now part of the Melbourne electorate of Niddrie that he has represented in the state parliament since 2012.

The seat is a party stronghold, having been represented by a Labor MP since its creation in 1976 - the year after Carroll’s birth.

Carroll himself was 36 when he entered parliament, but already was experienced in the political arena.

In his maiden speech to parliament, he recalled his first job working in a suburban Kmart for eight years during high school and university.

It was there he joined the SDA union (or “Shoppies”).

After graduating from La Trobe University, Carroll had jobs as a staffer for then-premier Steve Bracks (1999-2007) and later as an adviser for then-federal communications minister Stephen Conroy.

He was preselected as Labor’s candidate for the seat of Niddrie in 2012 and won handily, after the resignation of sitting MP Rob Hulls.

In his parliamentary career, the married father of one emerged as a significant figure in the Labor Right faction, claiming both former prime minister Paul Keating and former US president Bill Clinton as inspirations.

He even cited Clinton’s promise to deliver more opportunity for the country in his maiden speech to parliament.

His experience has been broad during his parliamentary career, with portfolios including industry and innovation, public transport, corrections, youth justice, roads, employment, and more.

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As deputy premier since October 2023, he has served as Minister for Education, Minister for Medical Research, and Minister for WorkSafe.

This experience is likely to be a two-edged sword - while it gives Carroll grounds to represent himself as a steady and experienced hand, he could also struggle to separate himself from the unpopular regime he succeeds.

Ironically, Carroll’s appointment as deputy premier was very much against the will of the left faction-aligned Andrews, who The Age reported was “apoplectic” when Carroll in 2023 threatened to challenge Allan for the leadership before a peace deal saw him appointed deputy.

“I was always very keen to rise,” he told reporters after his new role was announced.

Still, his close association with the senior levels of government in recent years will be seized on by the opposition, with shadow attorney-general James Newbury already having labelled Carroll as Allan’s “partner in crime”.

And he has not met with unqualified success in his ministerial work - though that would be a virtually impossible requirement to meet.

Only last week, public school teachers went on strike after refusing the government’s offer of a pay rise.

And it was also under Carroll’s stewardship of the education portfolio that questions for multiple end-of-year VCE tests were leaked online in 2024.

But The Age quotes insiders saying Carroll has been a voice of “constructive dissent” on a number of issues within the government, including pushing for tougher bail laws and voicing doubt about the state’s Suburban Rail Loop East project.

It remains to be seen whether, if elected as premier by his colleagues, he will strike the right balance between the steady hand and the fresh start.