Big Vic Labor vote a warning for Canberra

DANIEL Andrews believes the Federal Government has lessons to learn from his emphatic re-election as Victorian premier, and federal Health Minister Greg Hunt agrees.

But Mr Hunt has stressed the election was fought on state issues and believes the ousting of Malcolm Turnbull didn’t sway the result.

Victorian Labor will return to majority government with as many as 16 more seats following Saturday’s ballot result that shocked even the winners.

Mr Andrews said the strong victory shouldn’t be put down to what’s been happening in Canberra, with Victorians smart enough to tell the difference between a state and federal election.

But he said the win shows Victorians want a government that delivers on its commitments and said the Coalition could learn from the sentiment.

“I would have thought that a federal government, for instance, that said they wouldn’t cut hospitals and wouldn’t cut schools and then proceeded to do exactly that and to this day refuse to admit it — there’s a few lessons for them in this, I think,” he told reporters in Melbourne yesterday.

Mr Hunt said the Federal Government needed to listen to the Victorian electorate and understand the messages and vision it wants.

The Liberal Party has lost five out of six of the past Victorian elections, but won four out of six of the past federal elections.

“We need to look at what has been successfully federally and why there’s been a gap here in Victoria,” Mr Hunt said.

“For me, now we should reflect carefully, we should look at what all of the lessons are.”

Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg was also quick to say the result couldn’t be blamed on the federal Liberal Party.

“Scott Morrison and I and other federal colleagues didn’t play an active role in this campaign, and it was fought on state [issues],” Mr Frydenberg told ABC TV on Saturday.

Mr Andrews expects federal Labor Leader Bill Shorten will follow his government’s tactic of campaigning on a positive and optimistic plan.

“I’ll be out there campaigning very hard to see Bill Shorten as Australia’s next prime minister,” he said. . AAP