Tuesday 2 August 2022 05:00 AM Neil Mitchell slams Dan Andrews as worst Victorian premier: 'He puts politics ... trends now

Top-rating Melbourne radio host Neil Mitchell has opened up on why he launched a furious on-air attack to call Dan Andrews the worst premier in Victoria's history.

Mitchell has held the number one spot on 3AW's morning program over almost every ratings survey for three decades but Andrews has not spoken to him for more than five years.

The broadcaster also no longer has access to senior ministers in the Labor cabinet and thinks it likely not one of them will come on his program before the November state election.

Mitchell does not believe Andrews is obligated to speak to him personally but says the premier should be talking to his 19 per cent share of the Melbourne radio audience, which peaks at 200,000 each day. 

'It's a strategy that goes right through government,' Mitchell told Daily Mail Australia. 'If you've got a problem, avoid it. If you don't want to face tough questions, just put your head down and hide.

'It's a deliberate strategy of evasion, which is quite insulting to Victorians. Don't worry about talking to a whacker like me but you should be talking to the people who pay your wages and they won't.'

The pair has not spoken since 2017 when Mitchell accused Andrews of political trickery over the consultation process for Melbourne's elevated rail line 'sky rail' project.   

'I've made a few critical comments after that and never was he seen again and never will he be seen again,' Mitchell said. 'I don't think he'll ever forgive me.' 

He will stop at nothing. Nothing. He puts politics and political life ahead of Victorians 

On June 17, Mitchell called Andrews 'the worst premier in our history' and said he had not seen anyone like him in more than 50 years as a journalist watching Victorian politics.

'It's time to end the cult of Daniel Andrews,' Mitchell said back then. 'He seems to run this dictatorial style of government, a one-man band where his cabinet falls at his feet. 

'I believe that what's happening now is we’re seeing a man [who is] arguably the worst premier in our history, because he will stop at nothing. Nothing. He puts politics and political life ahead of Victorians.'

'Worst premier in Victoria's history' 

Asked why Andrews was the worst premier he had seen, Mitchell told Daily Mail Australia: 'Because he's developed this strategy of evasion. It's evasion and a lack of accountability.'

'It's a cliché but he's a Teflon premier. Nothing sticks and he won't answer to anything. He's a master of deflection.'

Mitchell said Andrews became increasingly autocratic during the Covid-19 pandemic and ruled by fear. 'I think a lot in his cabinet are frightened of him,' he said. 

'He can be a very charming man. He can be a very intimidating man. I've seen his charm when he was Opposition leader and I've seen his intimidation now he's premier. 

'I think there's a cult where people have become frightened to question him.'

'Lost the plot during pandemic' 

Mitchell, who takes credit for coining the phrase Dictator Dan - 'I liked the alliteration' -  said the powers Andrews assumed over Victorians during the state's lockdowns brought out the worst in him. 

'During the pandemic the belief was he was this strong and determined leader we needed,' he said. 'And to be fair there were certainly glimpses of that. 

Particularly in the outer suburbs of Melbourne there is a real dislike for Andrews... 

'But that disappeared in the sense that he became autocratic. Rather than determined and positive he because autocratic, in my view. 

'He won a lot of supporters during that period and he lost a lot of people during that period. 

'Particularly in the outer suburbs of Melbourne there is a real dislike for Andrews because of the level of the lockdown and the damage it caused.'

Mitchell said while he supported Melbourne's initial lockdowns before vaccines were freely available the harsh restrictions that followed were not needed. 

'It's only now we're really starting to see it really wasn't necessary to go the way he did,' he said. 'At the very least he was paternalistic. 

'He got carried away with it and the next thing he's chasing kids out of the playground, harassing old ladies sitting in the park because they're not wearing a mask. You're not allowed to go and watch the sunset. It was just ugly. 

He got carried away with it and the next thing he's chasing kids out of the playground... 

'It was almost like he lost touch, that the power of it all went to his head. He started well, he did some things that were necessary and he lost the plot, in my view. Many would disagree but that's what I think.' 

Mitchell did not see himself as the effective Opposition in Victoria but said the Coalition was struggling to get traction against Andrews. 

'He's a very, very hard opponent,' Mitchell said. 'Am I seen as the Opposition? I doubt it. I think people are more sophisticated than that. 

'They just see me as a critic and a voice and doing what media should do.'