Foxy Jeff Kennett was a fine Premier of Victoria. He came in to a disaster so bad it beggared belief. He fixed the problems got the State on track again and actually had savings in the bank.
He was usurped by liars claiming to be "Independant". His success was and is evident by the hatred you harbour to him.
Regarding mental health issues the left wanted all the care out of big institutions as they did across the Western World but Jeff did it.
I agree that was a mistake but the Public service/servants seem to be incapable of running the proverbial party in a brewery so it was a failure.
That still needs to be addressed.

Dear JBower,

We're going to have to agree to disagree on
Mr Jeff Kennett's seven year reign as
Premier of Victoria in the 1990s. I lived
through that period and for most of us the man
was a disaster as Premier.

He privatised the
state assets, closed schools, sacked public
servants, gave us the "Grand-Prix," which
cost a fortune and ran at a great loss. He
initiated "jobs for the boys," by appointing
his mates as CEOs of regional Libraries at
grand salaries (they knew nothing about
libraries) while Chief librarians did the real work,
he shut down regional and outer Melbourne railways
(some of these critical rail-lines are being
re-built at considerable cost today), he closed and
sold mental institutions around Victoria, forcing
the disabled people to fend for themselves in suburbia,
and sold off those properties for residential
development.

In all - over 300 public schools were closed, 9000
teachers and school staff were sacked, 3500 nurses
were sacked, 17 hospitals were closed, 45,000
public servants were sacked, unemployment peaked at
12.3 per cent, and state taxes ended up being
second highest in Australia.

Yes, Mr Kennett got the state moving again, but not in
a direction that Victorians could be proud of. You need to
talk to people that were personally affected by his decisions
and are still paying the price today.

Foxy,

"In office, Kennett immediately instituted a budget-cutting and privatisation program in an effort to improve the State's economy. Having assumed office, the need for such action was self-justified when Kennett and his new Treasurer, Alan Stockdale discovered that the outgoing government had left them with $2.2 billion budget deficit, a net public sector debt of $33 billion and budget sector debt of $16 billion. To resolve this debt, some 50,000 public servants were retrenched between 1992 and 1995."

So if you want to blame anyone, the fiscal incompetence of the previous 11 years of Labor should high on the list.

Kennett was acclaimed for drastically reducing the debt, boosting the economy and building necessary infra structure with an ambitious capitalization programme.

Dear Shadow Minister,

Mr Kennett's atrocious record speaks for itself.
And as I stated earlier - I lived during that
disastrous period. Jeff Kennett, is a man of
average intelligence. A man of limited education
and experience - with a very narrow vision.
A man who should never have been given a leadership
position in a state government. He possibly would have done
less harm had he stayed in the army - where he undoubtedly
belonged.

Foxy,

Kennett's stellar record speaks for itself, and the acclaim that he gets is well justified.

Labor governments are great until they run out of other people's money to spend, and the corrective action to clean up are never popular.

SM,

“I suppose it is the knifing season. First Milne got the boot, then Abbott. It is a pity as he was by far the best PM in 8 years.”

Best at what?

At producing at least one debacle a week, perhaps?

If you're interested, here's a comprehensive blow-by-blow run down of the machinations that led to Abbott's demise.

http://www.afr.com/news/politics/ambush-the-faceless-men-who-stalked-abbott-and-made-turnbull-king-20150916-gjoj7h

And just out of interest, SM - talking about the bestest PM in 8 years.

Talking of the mettle of a man who having reached a political pinnacle and who finds himself in a less than salubrious position of being dumped from that role. How should we expect such a man to handle a situation like that?

Do we expect him to squib a concession speech on the night of his defeat?

Do we expect a Prime Minister of Australia to offer his resignation to the Governor General "by fax"?

Do we expect him to absent himself from parliament in the days following his defeat - and then to announce he will not take his seat in parliament until the following sitting?

Who does that?

Where is the honour?

Notwithstanding, it's hard not to have some sympathy for the position in which he finds himself which, I imagine to a character like Abbott, would be crushing, yet his reactions since his demise in the top job have only reinforced and confirmed the perception that his man was not up to the role of Prime Minister.