Former Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has broken his silence on the drama surrounding his rumoured interest in joining at least one golf club on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.
It was reported in November that Andrews was at least considering a membership application to join the Portsea Golf Club – sparking radio shock jock Steve Price to threaten to “tear up” his membership if the potential application was approved.
One week later it was reported members had sent a letter to the prestigious National Golf Club on the Mornington Peninsula calling for Andrews to be denied membership.
The backlash against Andrews stems from the Covid-19 pandemic when Andrews imposed strict restrictions on golf in Victoria.
The former Labor leader was questioned about the controversy during an appearance on the Socially Democratic podcast on Friday.
Andrews insisted he did not in fact have any interest of becoming a member of one of the Mornington Peninsula golf clubs.
“No,” Andrews told podcast host Stephen Donnelly when asked if he was seeking membership.
“And we’ll wait and see what happens. I don’t have any difficulty in finding places to play golf, here and in other parts of the world.”
Andrews went on to say the whole saga was “quite ridiculous” and that reports of golf members wanting to reject his application were only based on “possible, theoretical membership”.
The retired politician then dismissed concerns of some golfers that they’d have to run into him at the golf club, even if they weren’t playing with him.
“Well yeah, you might see me at a restaurant anywhere in Melbourne, like what are you talking about?” Andrews said.
It has been a turbulent month for Andrews — especially considering he remarked in his retirement speech in September that playing golf was one of the major things he would be spending time doing.
“In terms of what I would do next, I’ll have a bit of time off and spend some time with Cath and the kids, play a bit of golf and read the pile of books that are sitting on the corner that have not been read,” Andrews said at the time.
Former professional golfer Mark Allen predicted in November that clubs along the Mornington Peninsula were considering following Portsea in pushing back against any potential Andrews membership application.
“To the point where not only members from Portsea but members from other clubs were saying that if he’s trying to join anywhere down here, they just will not let him join,” Allen said on 3AW.
“Remember one side of the peninsula they were able to play (golf) and get around, the other side of the peninsula, they were not allowed to play.”
During Covid, golf enthusiasts in the metropolitan Melbourne area and parts of the Mornington Peninsula were banned from the fairways and greens – a rule that was only mirrored by the Northern Territory.
While clubs were allowed to re-open from September 2021, toilets were forced to remain closed, earning the ire of enthusiasts.
Radio host Steve Price earlier gave Andrews a piece of his mind.
“This is the premier who stopped us playing golf for two years during Covid,” Price told Sky News Australia.
“This is the premier who locked down this community even though we’re 120km out of the city.
“The same premier who let people on the other side of the bay play golf. No way that should that man come into the golf club.”
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