Ben Carroll cancelled the Dan Andrews statue without using his name. Andrews said three years ago he never wanted one.

Ben Carroll announced the end of the Dan Andrews statue without once saying his name.

In the statement, Victoria's premier referred to his predecessor only as "Victoria's 48th premier".

"We are grateful to former premiers for their service," Mr Carroll said. "But gratitude does not require a taxpayer-funded statue."

"I respect your money. That means being careful and deliberate about how government spends it."

An independent and bipartisan panel will now review how the state commemorates its former leaders, and the automatic statue rule is finished.

That rule was written by a Liberal.

Jeff Kennett created it in 1999, commissioning sculptor Peter Corlett to make four bronzes for Treasury Place and setting the threshold at 3,000 days in office.

Two were posthumous, of Sir Albert Dunstan and Sir Henry Bolte.

Sir Rupert Hamer and John Cain junior were both alive at the unveiling.

Mr Andrews served 3,219 days, passing the mark three years ago.

He said at the time that he did not want the statue.

"That is a milestone that was dreamt up by former premier Kennett," he said in 2023. "From my point of view there's no magic to that day."

The Allan government commissioned it anyway, in March, at a cost of more than $134,000.

The objections were never about the money.

Mr Andrews oversaw one of the longest Covid lockdowns in the world, including the decision to seal public housing towers without notice that the Victorian Ombudsman later found breached human rights.

A Freshwater Strategy poll published on August 6 found 74 per cent of Victorians did not want it to proceed. Nineteen per cent wanted it built at taxpayers' expense.

Federal shadow treasurer Tim Wilson gave Nine the line that stuck.

"I don't think Dan Andrews should want this statue, frankly, because I think it's a serious risk of becoming a public urinal," the Goldstein MP said.

Victorian Opposition Leader Jess Wilson had already promised to scrap it if the Coalition wins on November 28.

The contract, though, has not been cancelled.

Mr Carroll confirmed the commissioned work will proceed, "avoiding unnecessary costs to taxpayers", and the panel has been asked to recommend an alternative subject and location for it.

The panel is not operational yet.

So a body that does not exist will suggest a name, and a government eight weeks from an election will decide whether to accept it.

Mr Kennett has a candidate. He and Melbourne Lord Mayor Nick Reece have both called for a statue of Joan Kirner, Victoria's first female premier.

She served less than two years, which is well short of the 3,000 days Mr Kennett's own rule requires.

The review will also cover state funerals, their frequency, scale and cost.

"State funerals are special and moving tributes," Mr Carroll said. "Part of what makes them special is their rarity."

Victoria's debt is forecast to approach $200 billion by 2029-30.

Mr Carroll has flagged cuts to infrastructure projects.

He has already stopped the government renting pot plants and printing branded stubby holders.

The four Kennett bronzes are still standing at Treasury Place.

Nobody has proposed reviewing those.