Editing Jeff Kennett (section)

===Second term as premier===
Kennett's personal popularity was mostly average to high through his first term, though that of the government as a whole went through peaks and troughs. Without a [[by-election]] in the previous four years, the [[1996 Victorian state election|1996 state election]] shaped up as the first test of the 'Kennett Revolution' with the electorate. The Coalition was expected to win a second term at the 30 March election, albeit with a somewhat reduced majority.  At the [[1996 Australian federal election|federal election]] held four weeks earlier, while Labor was heavily defeated, it actually picked up a swing in Victoria.

However, to the surprise of most commentators, the Coalition only suffered a two-seat swing, allowing it to retain a comfortable 14-seat majority. The Coalition actually picked up modest swings in Melbourne's outer suburbs, which have traditionally decided most state elections. Several negative trends (for the Liberals) were obscured somewhat by the euphoria of victory. The government's sharp cuts to government services were particularly resented in country Victoria, where the Liberals and Nationals held almost all the seats. The loss of the [[Electoral district of Mildura|Mildura]] seat to independent [[Russell Savage]] was an indication of this disaffection, and when in February 1997 independent [[Susan Davies]] was elected to the seat of [[Electoral district of Gippsland West|Gippsland West]], this trend seemed set to continue.

However, the verdict of many was that the 'Kennett Revolution' was far from over – indeed it was seemingly set in stone with the opening of the [[Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex|Crown Casino]] in May 1997. Kennett's profile continued to grow as he became a major commentator on national issues, including urging the new government of [[John Howard]] to introduce tax reform, and actively opposing the rise of the [[One Nation (Australia)|One Nation]] Party of [[Pauline Hanson]]. In this last case, Kennett did not shy away from criticising the media, but also the decision of the Howard government to not actively oppose Hanson's agenda.<ref>George Megalogenis, ''The Longest Decade'', Carlton North: Scribe, 2006, pp.212–213.</ref>

Kennett was influential in [[Melbourne]] bidding for the [[2006 Commonwealth Games]]. Three cities initially expressed interest in hosting the event; Melbourne, [[Wellington]] and [[Singapore]]. [[Singapore]] dropped out before its bid was officially selected by the [[Commonwealth Games Federation]], leaving only two candidate cities. In the weeks prior to the announcement of the 2006 host, [[Wellington]] withdrew its bid, citing the costs involved with matching the bid plan presented by Melbourne, which became the default host without members of the Federation going to vote.<ref>[http://www.commonwealthgames.org.au/Templates/Newsletter_volume2_No2.pdf Official Newsletter Volume 2, No 1] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110216221409/http://commonwealthgames.org.au/Templates/Newsletter_volume2_No2.pdf |date=16 February 2011 }} May 1999, Commonwealth Games Australia</ref>

The government lost ground over the next few years, with high-profile disagreements with the [[Director of Public Prosecutions]] [[Bernard Bongiorno]], and [[Chief Audit Executive|Auditor-General]] [[Ches Baragwanath]] fuelling criticism of Kennett's governmental style. Kennett's perceived antipathy to Baragwanath led to 1997 legislation to restructure the office of the Auditor-General and set up Audit Victoria. While Kennett promised the independence of the office would be maintained, many saw his government's actions as an attempt to curb the Auditor-General's power to criticise government policy.<ref>John Waugh, 'The Kennett Government and the Constitution: No Change?', in Brian Costar & Nicholas Edonomou, ''The Kennett Revolution: Victorian Politics in the 1990s'', Sydney: University of New South Wales Press, 1999, pp.59, 61.</ref> Widespread community debate and substantial public dissent from Liberal MPs and Party members ensued, with MLA Roger Pescott resigning from Parliament at the height of the debate; citing his disagreement with this Bill and Kennett's style in general.  The Liberal Party lost the by-election in Mitcham.

Further scandals involving the handling of contracts for the state emergency services response system damaged the credibility of Kennett in 1997–1998, while rural dissent continued to grow.

Personal difficulties also began to affect Kennett and his family. The strains of public life led to a trial separation between Felicity and Jeff in early 1998 (patched up by the end of the year), while earlier in Kennett's first term, public scrutiny had led to the forced sale of the KNF Advertising Company, despite all Kennett's involvement having been transferred to his wife's name. There were rumours in 1998 that Kennett might retire from politics; these were mostly centred around [[Phil Gude]], his party deputy. These eventually came to nothing.

In July 1998, Liberal MP [[Peter McLellan]], Member for Frankston East, resigned from the party in protest over alleged corrupt Liberal Party [[Australian Senate|Senate]] preselection, changes to WorkCover and the auditor-general's office.  Again, Kennett failed to pick up the warning signs of declining support for his style of leadership.

Labor leader [[John Brumby]] took care to capitalise on each of Kennett's mistakes over this period, though his absences in rural electorates were misunderstood by many Labor MPs, and led to his replacement by [[Steve Bracks]] in early 1999. Bracks, who came from [[Ballarat]], was popular in rural areas and was seen as a fresh alternative to Brumby, who nevertheless remained a key figure in the [[shadow Cabinet]].