{
  "id": 4068331,
  "title": "Controversial plans for a Daniel Andrews sculpture officially scrapped by Victorian government",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/28/controversial-plans-for-a-daniel-andrews-sculpture-officially-4068331",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-28T23:47:37.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Guardian",
    "slug": "the-guardian",
    "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/aug/29/controversial-plans-for-a-daniel-andrews-sculpture-officially-scrapped-by-victorian-government"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Victorian government has abandoned plans for a $134,000 statue of former premier Daniel Andrews, following intense criticism from the opposition. The decision was announced by Premier Ben Carroll, who appointed an independent panel to review how the state commemorates officials with statues and state services. The controversial policy, introduced in 1999, automatically recognized long-serving Victorian premiers with a statue on Treasury Place. While Andrews led the state through challenging times, the opposition argues that taxpayers should not fund such monuments. The opposition leader, Jess Wilson, pledged that if her party wins the election, they would not allow the statue to proceed. Andrews served as premier from December 2014 until September 2023, leading Victoria through significant challenges.",
  "summary": "The $134,000 cost of the statue of the former Victorian premier has been heavily criticised by the Liberal opposition Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The Carroll government in Victoria has cancelled controversial plans for a statue of former Labor premier Daniel Andrews. Work began in May on the statue commemorating the former premier’s more than 3,000 days in office,…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 5,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Sydney Morning Herald",
        "title": "Carroll scraps plan for statue of Daniel Andrews",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/28/carroll-scraps-plan-for-statue-of-daniel-andrews-4052489",
        "published": "2026-08-28T22:38:39.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Age",
        "title": "Carroll scraps plan for statue of Daniel Andrews",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/28/carroll-scraps-plan-for-statue-of-daniel-andrews",
        "published": "2026-08-28T22:38:39.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "ABC News AU",
        "title": "Planned statue of ex-Victorian premier Daniel Andrews scrapped",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/28/planned-statue-of-ex-victorian-premier-daniel-andrews-scrapped",
        "published": "2026-08-28T23:36:16.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Guardian Australia",
        "title": "Controversial plans for a Daniel Andrews sculpture officially scrapped by Victorian government",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/28/controversial-plans-for-a-daniel-andrews-sculpture-officially",
        "published": "2026-08-28T23:47:37.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}