Leader of Australia's Victoria state, known for COVID lockdowns, to step down

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Daniel Andrews, the premier of Australia's Victoria state who oversaw one of the longest pandemic lockdowns in the world, said on Tuesday he would resign after about nine years in office.

Andrews' surprise resignation comes just shy of a year after he led the centre-left Labor party to a third consecutive win in November elections in Australia's second-most populous state. He said the job had "consumed and defined" him.

"It's not an easy job, being premier of our state. That is not a complaint, it's just a fact," Andrews told a televised media conference.

"It requires 100% from you and your family. That of course is time-limited and now is the time to step away," he said. "To a certain extent, every waking moment is about the work and that takes a toll."

Andrews is the longest-serving Labor premier of Victoria, and his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic was criticised by some residents for the stop-start lockdowns that shut down state capital Melbourne for a total of 262 days.

He said lawmakers from the Labor party, which is currently in power in the federal government, would elect his successor on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; editing by Miral Fahmy)