Jacinta Allan leadership threat LIVE updates: Victorian Premier under pressure as state Labor chiefs hold crisis meeting

Thanks for following our live coverage of the internal Labor Party push to dump Jacinta Allan as Victorian premier. Here’s what we know so far:

• Factional bosses meet: Conveners from Labor’s Left and Right factions met last night and resolved to move against Premier Jacinta Allan.
• Allan defiant: The premier spent Sunday night at her home in Bendigo and told her allies that regardless of what the factional chiefs decide she would not resign.
• Allies rally: One supporter said not every faction was represented at the Sunday night meeting and downplayed its significance. “The premier absolutely has the numbers,” they said.
• No challenger declared: Sources close to Deputy Premier Ben Carroll today said he is “reconsidering his position” after ruling himself out as a prospective challenger just six weeks ago.
• Spill could bring chaos: A contested leadership ballot, just four months out from a state election, would paralyse the government as Labor rules require a caucus vote and poll of party members, which could take weeks.

• Cabinet to meet soon: The premier will lead a tense Cabinet meeting at 11am that will consider a proposal to create a new agency within Victoria Police that targets organised crime, but law enforcement figures today told The Age that a royal commission is needed to tackle corruption on the Big Build.

Stay tuned for updates.

Major Events Minister Steve Dimopoulos, one of Jacinta Allan’s key allies, has flown home early from Greece as leadership speculation intensified.

Dimopoulos was attending a wedding in Greece and due to return in time for parliament’s resumption on Tuesday, but brought his flight forward and arrived on Sunday night, just as factional conveners were meeting to discuss the premier’s future.

He has been a major ally of Allan and has styled himself as her praetorian guard over the last two years, defending her in the face of caucus criticism.

However, Dimopoulos name is always brought up when leadership change is floated. His backers have previously tried to argue he could be an alternative leadership candidate, a claim he has denied publicly.

Thanks for following our live coverage of the internal Labor Party push to dump Jacinta Allan as Victorian premier. Here’s what we know so far:

• Factional bosses meet: Conveners from Labor’s Left and Right factions met last night and resolved to move against Premier Jacinta Allan.
• Allan defiant: The premier spent Sunday night at her home in Bendigo and told her allies that regardless of what the factional chiefs decide she would not resign.
• Allies rally: One supporter said not every faction was represented at the Sunday night meeting and downplayed its significance. “The premier absolutely has the numbers,” they said.
• No challenger declared: Sources close to Deputy Premier Ben Carroll today said he is “reconsidering his position” after ruling himself out as a prospective challenger just six weeks ago.
• Spill could bring chaos: A contested leadership ballot, just four months out from a state election, would paralyse the government as Labor rules require a caucus vote and poll of party members, which could take weeks.

• Cabinet to meet soon: The premier will lead a tense Cabinet meeting at 11am that will consider a proposal to create a new agency within Victoria Police that targets organised crime, but law enforcement figures today told The Age that a royal commission is needed to tackle corruption on the Big Build.

Stay tuned for updates.

Jacinta Allan’s rival for the Labor leadership, Deputy Premier Ben Carroll, is “reconsidering his position” after ruling himself out as a prospective challenger just six weeks ago.

Sources close to Carroll said on Monday morning that – following Sunday’s meeting of factional conveners that determined Allan no longer has the support of her caucus – government MPs have urged him to seize the top job.

“He is reconsidering his position,” the sources said.

Carroll is the preferred candidate of the Right faction and considered by many in the party – including some within Labor’s dominant Left faction – of being the only viable alternative to Allan.

The government’s response to revelations of corruption in the Big Build and lawlessness in the CFMEU has been a key issue for Jacinta Allan’s leadership.

She has resisted mounting calls for a royal commission and was this morning due to take a proposal for an organised crime agency to cabinet. Nick McKenzie reported today that it was expected to be similar to, but less powerful than, NSW’s crime commission.

He interviewed four leading law enforcement figures who all argued that a royal commission was a better response:

Phillip Bradley, who for two decades headed the NSW commission and was also the inaugural chief executive of the ACIC, said a truly independent royal commission operating in public view was the best way to expose problems on Victoria’s $109 billion Big Build program.

Jacinta Allan is a self-confessed goody two shoes. When she was first named Victoria’s deputy premier, caucus colleagues described her as diligent, dutiful and even boring.

Here’s a closer look at her political journey:

Premier Jacinta Allan, who spent Sunday night at her home in Bendigo with senior advisers, has refused to resign despite mounting internal pressure.

She has told supporters she will stay on regardless of any factional decision.

While there is no declared challenger, Deputy Premier Ben Carroll has indicated he would contest the leadership if it became vacant.

But the leader of the Right faction has also signalled to colleagues he would not use his numbers to bring the premier down.

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the internal Labor Party push to dump Jacinta Allan as Victorian premier.

The campaign reached a critical stage last night after an extraordinary meeting of factional conveners resolved to move against her leadership.

The meeting of conveners from across the party’s Left and Right factions was called to determine whether Allan has the caucus backing she needs to lead the government to the state election on November 28.

Follow here for updates from The Age’s state politics team.