Unlike the German playwright Bertolt Brecht, who wrote that the East German government – unhappy with the election result – wanted to ‘dissolve the people and elect another’, the reality is the Andrews government has been re-elected and the result has to be accepted.

At the same time, it’s proper to analyse the reasons for the ALP’s victory, why the Liberal Party failed to win, and what the consequences are for Victoria and the state’s citizens. Government is too important to leave to the politicians and its apparatchiks who are only concerned with capturing and maintaining power.

Daniel Andrews is a consummate political operator steeped in the dark arts of Machiavellian politics. As a student radical, union activist apparatchik, and socialist-left who has never had a real job, Andrews has spent his whole adult life learning the art of political manipulation and control.

In government, Andrews appears to act as the El Supremo who treats Cabinet colleagues as mere minions. Any who stray, like the Health Minister Jenny Mikakos, are thrown under a bus.

Instead of accepting President Truman’s belief that leaders must take responsibility for their decisions and their government’s actions because ‘the buck stops here’ Andrews, when questioned about the over 800 deaths in aged care homes and the failure of the hotel quarantine regime, refused to allow the government to be held accountable.

Much like a character out of a Dickens’ novel Andrews, when in front of the media, presents himself as a sincere, genuine, and compassionate Northface-clad leader – disguising the cold and calculating persona beneath.

Some political observers believe that the Labor government used the Covid virus as an excuse to turn Melbourne into the most locked-down city in the world, enacting draconian emergency powers similar to communist China – including mandatory and inflexible lockdowns, curfews, and a denial of basic rights.

As a result of government over-reach, small businesses have been bankrupted, long-held freedoms and liberties trashed, children put years behind in their schooling, and rates of anxiety, depression, and self-harm rising to worrying levels.

While the saying ‘governments lose elections’ is true, it’s equally true that oppositions only succeed if they offer a viable, convincing, and attractive alternative. On all accounts the Victorian Opposition and those in control of the Liberal Party organisation failed.

Former Prime Minister John Howard argues:

‘Any party that seeks to maintain its relevance to the Australian community, will always be a party both of ideas and ideals… A political party that does not give pride of place to ideals and values is a political party that will very quickly lose not only its soul but also its sense of direction.’

Proven by the policies taken to this election it’s obvious the Victorian Liberal Party has lost its way. By refusing to reduce government debt and copying the government in areas like global warming, conversion therapy, and hostility to so-called conservative Christian beliefs the Liberal Party betrayed its conservative base.

By refusing to get rid of deadwood members of Parliament like David Davis and allowing factional warlords to dominate pre-selections along with the party’s internal structure, it’s obvious the party is bereft of any commitment to the battle of ideas.

Those who have read Machiavelli’s The Prince will argue that politicians must be prepared to win at all costs and to employ subterfuge and deception if necessary. Based on such a reckoning, it’s clear Daniel Andrews is a very successful politician.

Balanced against such a judgment is the way Victoria is now the antipodean Venezuela with massive government debt, a one-man authoritarian rule, record numbers of citizens fleeing the state, and an atmosphere of anxiety and gloom.

Power for power’s sake ignores the responsibility politicians and governments have to serve the common good, to act according to what is reasonable and just, and to never ignore they are the servants of the people.

Italy and Germany before the start of the second world war had authoritarian leaders that gained electoral success, but history proves such popularity was misplaced. One hopes and prays the same fate does not befall Victoria.

Dr Kevin Donnelly is a conservative commentator and author of The Dictionary Of Woke