3 Premiers in 3 years.
How Victoria’s 50th Premier was Built (Part I)
16mins | Premiered Aug 30, 2026
Victoria has changed Premier again. Ben Carroll is the state's 50th, and the third in as many years. Every time the person at the top changes, we're encouraged to see a new chapter, a new style, maybe even a new government. Fresh start. Clean slate. You know the script.
But is Victoria actually getting a new direction, or are we getting a new driver in the exact same vehicle?
Part 1 of a multi-part investigation. Emeka traces Ben Carroll's political trajectory from a suburban Airport West childhood through his 1996 Labor branch membership, years as a political adviser, the 2012 Niddrie by-election, his rise through cabinet, and his path to becoming the 50th Premier of Victoria. What comes out is a shape. And once you see the shape, you can't stop seeing it.
Some things Emeka will walk you through:
The constitutional detail your school didn't explain: you don't directly elect the Premier
The Niddrie by-election that had no Liberal candidate
The staircase from branch member, adviser, MP, minister, deputy, to Premier… and how long it takes
What the 2023 succession really told us about who fights for what inside the machine
Emeka is not starting with the conclusion that Ben Carroll is corrupt, incompetent, or secretly Daniel Andrews wearing a different suit. If the evidence eventually says he's genuinely a different kind of Premier, we'll show you that too. This is Part 1: the runway. In Part 2, we go inside the machine.
