![<i>Illustration: Matt Davidson</i>](/web/20160603191421im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/k/6/2/q/a/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gk53ny.png/1444520823692.jpg)
Illustration: Matt Davidson
A strange thing happened to Daniel Andrews in the wake of the AFL grand final: he started to look increasingly like the people's champion.
First, there was the new grand final public holiday, which turned out to be a roaring success for families, workers and footy fans – despite the angst of business groups and millions of dollars in lost productivity.
Then came legislation giving same-sex people equal adoption rights, ending years of discrimination for couples who already have children but are not jointly recognised as parents under the law.
![Premier Daniel Andrews is gaining the approval of Greens and Coaltion voters.](/web/20160603191421im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/j/z/n/1/5/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gk53ny.png/1445094167918.jpg)
Premier Daniel Andrews is gaining the approval of Greens and Coaltion voters. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
And finally, there was the ambitious push to legalise marijuana for medical purposes. Provided everything goes according to plan, the state will be growing and distributing its own medicinal cannabis by 2017, first for children with severe epilepsy and, eventually, for people with cancer, multiple sclerosis, and HIV/AIDS.
Whatever you think of Labor's policies, you've got to hand it to the government for delivering on them. But what made last week particularly notable is the fact that Andrews didn't just fulfil key commitments: on each occasion, he stuck to his guns, stared down vested interest groups, and favoured the underdog or the broader community in doing so.
When the powerful business lobby railed against the new football holiday on the basis of profits and loss, the Premier pointed out that "we don't just live to work" and you simply can't put a price on time with family and loved ones.
When the churches demanded that Labor's adoption reforms include religious exemptions to give faith-based agencies legal protection to reject gay couples in accordance with their beliefs, the reply was simple: equality is not negotiable.
And when the doctors' association urged the government not to legalise medical marijuana without further research, Andrews was determined to push ahead anyway, inspired by Melbourne toddler Cooper Wallace, whose epilepsy was once so severe he probably wouldn't be alive if his parents hadn't broken the law by illegally using medicinal cannabis to help him.
"No parent should ever have to make that choice," the Premier said last week. "The time has come for us to stop finding reasons not to do this, and instead drag this law into the 21st century."
As he approaches his government's first anniversary next month, you get the feeling Daniel Andrews is starting to hit his straps: a Party Man recasting himself as a Man of the People, with a genuine appetite for reform.
Just as Steve Bracks was Mr Popularity and John Brumby was a self-styled Action Premier, Andrews is demonstrating traits of both: politically astute, self-assured, determined to get things done.
"Even people who don't like Labor seem to like him because he sticks to his word," one ALP number cruncher told The Sunday Age last week. "He's actually cutting through."
It's a remarkable transformation when you think about it. Not that long ago, the 43-year-old MP was just small-target opposition leader, capitalising on the Coalition's woes as it lurched from one political headache to the next.
Now, the latest Newspoll (published in June) shows Labor surging ahead with 58 per cent of the vote after the distribution of preferences, while recent internal research conducted by the ALP also suggests the premier is starting to make an impact among some Greens voters – partly on the back of progressive policies such as same-sex equality and animal welfare – as well as sections of Melbourne's east, which have traditionally been conservative strongholds.
Perhaps it's just as well given Labor's internal headaches. After all, for the past few weeks, the government has come under sustained attack on the front page of Melbourne's Herald Sun over whistleblower claims that Labor rorted the election by using taxpayer-funded electorate officers to work as field organisers during the 2014 campaign. Andrews has consistently denied breaking any rules, but the evidence keeps piling up.
Tensions simmered even further on Wednesday, after The Age was given a strategic leak designed to damage Women's Minister Fiona Richardson – one of Andrews' former factional rivals – by suggesting she had sought to stack government boards with higher-paid ALP women.
Both issues underscore that it's not entirely peace and harmony in the government, but most MPs are of the view that the internal ructions aren't about to spill over publicly – at least not yet.
"People in voter-land don't really give a shit about the internal stuff," a senior source said. "They just want us to keep delivering on our promises."
This, of course, is cold comfort for Opposition Leader Matthew Guy, who now has the dubious honour of making the Coalition competitive enough to pick up the seven seats it needs to return to office at the next election in 2018.
Guy has so far done a decent job considering the circumstances. His shadow cabinet remains united, devoid of the infighting that tends to derail opposition parties in the wake of a crushing defeat. He's sought to capture the political middle ground, espousing a more progressive brand of Liberalism on social issues such as asylum seekers and gay rights.
He's even managed to keep in check the fiery temper we regularly witnessed when he was planning minister in the Napthine government, sticking instead to a good-humoured pledge to be "sweet-tempered and tolerant".
But Guy also knows of the dangers of being defined by the things you're solely against, which is why he spent so many months seeking to distance himself from his former federal counterpart, Tony Abbott.
Sooner or later, the state Liberal leader will have to flick the switch from being relentlessly negative (the inevitable task of an opposition leader) to presenting a viable alternative premier with a positive story to tell.
The problem is, Andrews is already proving to be a formidable opponent – and he's only just warming up.
Farrah Tomazin is Sunday Age state political editor.
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