Victoria's election campaign has reached fever pitch with slurs and dirt-digging taking the front seat in the final days of campaigning as the Prime Minister lends his support to Daniel Andrews' campaign to further extend the nation's longest leadership era.
The Premier says he will serve his full term if re-elected and is already the longest-serving state or federal leader with almost 8 years in office. If he fulfils his pledge, Andrews would be the nation's 7th longest serving leader behnid 1960s Tasmanian Labor leader Eric Reece and prominent Victorian Liberals Sir Robert Menzies and Sir Henry Bolte.
The Liberal-National coalition need to win 11 seats to send Labor into minority government negotiations with a current crossbench of 6, and 18 seats to govern outright.
The Liberals have distanced themselves from upper house candidate Renee Heath over links to her church's teachings on homosexuality. They have claimed she will not sit in their party room, if elected, with Liberal leader Matthew Guy saying it was too late in the campaign to end her candidacy.
On Monday morning, Liberal deputy leader David Southwick accused premier Daniel Andrews of using slurring his party by claiming they were 'preferencing Nazis':
"Whenever Labor are under political pressure they resort to mud, muck and smear. But this weekend’s descent into Nazi name-calling really does scrape the bottom of the barrel.
Sitting independent MP Catherine Cumming is being investigated by Victoria Police after telling a Melbourne rally that she wanted to "make Daniel Andrews turn into red mist" - a military term used to describe the blood that comes out of a sniper's target when they are hit.
Ms Cumming told AAP there was nothing inciteful about her comments and she was only referring to Labor's Red Shirts scandal.
The Premier said the investigation was a matter for police but Victoria was "better than this", telling reporters on Sunday:
"We're much better than violent extremism.
"We ought to leave that to the United States. This is not America and I will do nothing to contribute to the Americanisation of our politics."
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