If Allan can’t get it together, she may not be leader come this year’s election

February 20, 2026 — 4:47pm

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Once, when politicians mostly answered questions and believed in accountability, there was a truism in journalism: the more a leader shouted, complained, dodged and abused, the closer you were to the truth.

Today, bullying is supposedly abhorred, particularly by some on the Left who have actually mastered the dark art and use it against anybody who disagrees or questions.

Which is why these recent weeks it has been revealing to watch the behaviour of the premier, Jacinta Allan.

She is rattled. You can see it in her eyes, hear it in her voice, and smell it in her strategy as she blusters and bullies and bumbles her way through the Big Build scandal.

She has now blocked parliamentary discussion on changes to IBAC which would enable it to follow the money in one of the most important issues in Victoria in the past 50 years, the CFMEU Big Build scandal. She has refused to launch a royal commission despite wide pressure, and thrown several tantrums in media conferences under intense but fair questioning.

But this government does not answer questions, legitimate or otherwise, as the dodging and tantrums have shown.

When questioned on Thursday by an unusually aggressive gallery, the premier bullied her way through.

She........

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