SYDNEY, Sept 26, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - The leader of the Australian state of
Victoria resigned unexpectedly Tuesday after nine years that included
battling the Covid-19 pandemic, declaring: "It's not an easy job".

"Thoughts of what life will be like after this job have started to creep in,"
said Premier Dan Andrews, who led the state's centre-left Labor party for 13
years.

"I have always known that the moment that happens, it is time to go and give
this privilege, this amazing responsibility, to someone else," he told a news
conference.

"It is not an easy job being premier of our state -- that is not a complaint,
that is just fact."

Andrews was at the helm during the Covid-19 pandemic years, overseeing a
series of strict lockdowns in the state capital Melbourne.

The city's five million residents spent more than 260 days confined to their
homes.

Frustration over that and the state's vaccine mandates led to violent
protests in 2021.

Andrews' popularity fell to a two-year low last month but he remained
slightly ahead of the state's conservative opposition Liberal Party leader
John Pesutto, a survey by Resolve Political Monitor for The Age newspaper
indicated.

The premier said his job required 100 percent commitment "from you and your
family".

"That, of course, is time-limited and now is the time to step away."

Asked about his legacy, Andrews told reporters: "It will be for others to
judge my time in parliament and my years of leadership."

The premier said he would officially step down at 5:00 pm (0700 GMT)
Wednesday and a replacement would be chosen by the party caucus earlier the
same day.