Former prime minister Tony Abbott labels Andrews government as ‘one of the worst’ Australia has had ahead of election

Former prime minister Tony Abbott has labelled the incumbent Victorian government as arguably the worst the nation has ever had.

Daniel Andrews is on track to become Victoria’s longest serving Labor premier, with the latest Newspoll showing his government is heading towards a third election victory.

The Newspoll, published in The Australian, shows Labor holds a two-party preferred lead over the Coalition of 56 to 44 less than three months out from polling day.

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Mr Andrews – whose latest term in government has been characterised by the COVID-19 pandemic response, including crushing Melbourne lockdowns – is set to overtake Steve Bracks within the next month as Labor’s second longest serving Victorian premier.

In an exclusive interview with Sky News Australia’s Simon Love, Mr Abbott drew on his own experiences in opposition.

“No one thought we had a chance in 2010 and we did extremely well against a first term government because we had a strong sense of what we stood for,” Mr Abbott said.

“A Liberal Party which stands for things and fights for things always has the scent of victory in its nostrils.”

Mr Abbott conceded the Liberals are lagging in Victoria but pointed to the current government’s record, labelling the hotel quarantine fiasco as the “most inept” program in contemporary Australian history.

He insisted the environment is “target rich” for the Opposition, which is struggling to make up ground.

“The fact is the Andrews government has been a seriously bad government,” he said.

“It’s been ethically challenged; it’s been confidence challenged. The hotel quarantine program which ultimately caused the virus to leak out into the community at a time when almost no one had any immunity or vaccination – it killed 800 people.

“It was one of the most inept programs in contemporary Australian history. This is a government which plainly has broken lots of rules. It’s created, effectively, a party state here in Victoria.

“So I think it’s a target rich environment for the Opposition.”

The poll was carried out between August 22 and 25 and included 1027 voters who were posed questions about their voting intentions if an election where held today and how they rated the performance of Mr Andrews and Opposition Leader Matthew Guy.

Mr Guy has seen his satisfaction rating fall from 34 to 32, with those dissatisfied rising from 42 to 49. Nineteen per cent were uncommitted.

On the question of who would make a better premier for Victoria, 51 per cent said Mr Andrews, while 34 per cent nominated Mr Guy.

Reflecting on the wave of victorious teals at the federal election, Mr Abbott urged voters to reconsider what that could mean at a state level.

“People have to understand that a vote for a teal is effectively a vote for the Andrews government,” he said.

“If you want to keep the Andrews government, vote teal. If you want to change the Andrews government, vote Liberal.

“The Andrews government is probably one of the worst governments Australia has ever had.”

With a victory on November 26, Mr Andrews will then go on to surpass John Cain, who served between 1982 and 1990.

Labor has been in power in Victoria for 19 of the last 23 years.