Premier Ben Carroll has launched his re-election campaign in earnest by promising to spend $750 million a year to fund 250 more emergency department beds at 12 hospitals across the state.

Dodging torrential rain in North Melbourne and dogged by dire opinion polls that show Labor heading for defeat on November 28, Carroll boarded his election campaign bus for the first time on Sunday morning and fired the starting pistol on a five-week campaign.

The slogan printed on its rear – “New Premier, New Direction” – is about as subtle as the bright red coach itself, as Carroll attempts to distance himself from his predecessors Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan, who he successfully challenged for the leadership just three months ago.

“Petrol’s paid for,” he joked while boarding the bus, referencing a bungle earlier this week when he inadvertently drove off from a service station without paying.…