Credit:Joe Armao Or how about the attempts to avoid legitimate scrutiny: take, for instance, the ongoing bid to block the Ombudsman probing Labor's "rorts-for-votes" scandal, or the reluctance to address the dubious use of parliamentary entitlements by ALP Speaker Telmo Languiller and deputy speaker Don Nardella. And then there's the growing concern that communities are being railroaded by the government's tendency to announce now, and consult later. Last year, it was sky rail on the Cranbourne-Pakenham train line, which most local residents only learnt about after the plan was selectively dropped to one newspaper. This year, it's the $228 million plan for a new youth jail in Melbourne's west that has sparked a backlash in Labor's traditional heartland. As one government MP put it last week: "Is there anyone we're not at war with?" On the one hand, you could argue the Premier's approach is a necessary contrast to the preceding four years of the Coalition, when the pace of reform was so slow it felt as though Victoria had taken a sedative. Andrews came to office promising not to waste "a single day" – and to his credit, he hasn't.

The trouble is, the government's determination to barrel through – often without proper consultation or process – is starting to come at a cost: the trust of the electorate. Take the latest Galaxy/Newspoll as a case in point. Based on a state-wide snapshot last week, 52 per cent of respondents said they were dissatisfied with the Premier's performance, compared with just over one third who said they were satisfied. What's more, Andrews is only marginally ahead of Liberal leader Matthew Guy as preferred premier – 36 per cent compared with 34 per cent – and more people tend to think Victoria is heading in the wrong direction under his watch. Labor is still ahead of the Coalition on two-party-preferred terms, but it's hardly a vote of confidence for a first-term government only half way through a four-year cycle. The numbers, however, only tell one part of the story. Two weeks ago, in extraordinary scenes, thousands of Wyndham locals took to the streets to protest against the government's proposal for a 244-bed youth jail at Werribee South. This week, some of those protesters came to question time at State Parliament, shaking their heads in disbelief as their local MP, Treasurer Tim Pallas, was forced to explain why the government had announced its preferred site without consulting the council or residents.

Pallas put on a decent show, insisting the location had been picked because it was far enough from homes but accessible enough for staff, and vowing that the government "will continue to have direct engagement with the community" until a final decision is made. The problem is, his constituents in the public gallery simply weren't buying it, which is precisely the point. Voters have become so jaded about politicians that even the slightest misstep further erodes what little trust remains – let alone when governments don't appear to be listening in the first place. Instead of talking to communities before big decisions are made, Team Andrews seems to be taking the same approach for which it used to criticise the Napthine government: "Trust us, we know best." Instead of basing decisions on evidence, knee-jerk policies are rushed out in a bid to avert controversy, leaving the government exposed when the cracks inevitably appear. (The decision to put youths into Barwon's maximum security adult prison, which has been repeatedly derailed in the courts, is a classic example). And instead of bringing caucus into the fold, MPs say they are often kept in the dark because paranoia prevails around the Premier and his inner sanctum. Indeed, at a recent caucus retreat, the message to troops went something like this: don't leak to the media, hold the line on law and order, and have a little faith.

The thinking is that by the time voters starts to genuinely engage in state politics, Andrews will have enough tangible results on which to be judged, regardless of the heavy-handed, crash-through approach that came with the territory. Maybe so, but 2017 is meant to be the year the government recalibrates and clears the decks before the 2018 state election campaign begins in earnest. The last thing it can afford is another 12 months of self-inflicted wounds, or worse still: the growing perception that arrogance has set in. Farrah Tomazin is The Sunday Age's state political editor. @FarrahTomazin