John Newton Carey (born 11 July 1974) is an Australian politician. A member of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

, Carey has been the member for

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

in the

Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House in the Western Australian capital, Perth. The Legisla ...

, the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

of the

Parliament of Western Australia The Parliament of Western Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Western Australia, forming the legislative branch of the Government of Western Australia. The parliament consists of a lower house, the Legislative Ass ...

, since 11 March 2017. Since 19 March 2021, Carey has been the minister for housing and minister for local government. Since 21 December 2021, Carey has also been the minister for lands and minister for homelessness. From 19 October 2013 to 30 January 2017, he was the mayor of the City of Vincent.

Early life and career

John Newton Carey was born on 11 July 1974 in

, Western Australia. His parents were Delys and John William "Jack" Carey. Jack Carey was part of the 2/2nd Commando Squadron and took part in the

Battle of Timor The Battle of Timor occurred in Portuguese Timor and Dutch Timor during the Second World War. Japanese forces invaded the island on 20 February 1942 and were resisted by a small, under-equipped force of Allied military personnel—known as ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Jack was awarded an

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

medal in 2001 for his service to the welfare of veterans and their families and his assistance to the Timorese people through the 2/2nd Commando Association. Carey studied at

Murdoch University Murdoch University is a public university in Perth, Western Australia, with campuses also in Singapore and Dubai. It began operations as the state's second university on 25 July 1973, and accepted its first undergraduate students in 1975. Its n ...

, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with first class honours, majoring in communications. During his time at university, he was the national president of the National Union of Students. In 2004, Carey joined the

. He worked as a political advisor in the governments of

Geoff Gallop Geoffrey Ian Gallop (born 27 September 1951) is an Australian academic and former politician who served as the 27th Premier of Western Australia from 2001 to 2006. He is currently a professor and director of the Graduate School of Government at ...

and

Alan Carpenter Alan John Carpenter (born 4 January 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th Premier of Western Australia, from 2006 to 2008. From Albany, Carpenter graduated from the University of Western Australia, and worked as a journ ...

. After the 2008 state election, Carey worked for five years as the director of the Kimberley Conservation Project for the Pew Environment Group, where he successfully campaigned for the creation of the

Great Kimberley Marine Park Camden Sound is a relatively wide body of water in the Indian Ocean located in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The Sound is bounded by the Bonaparte Archipelago to the north-east, the Buccaneer Archipelago to the south-west, and M ...

. For two years, he also ran an event, party and wedding coordination business called Bailey and Carey. Carey established Western Australia's first "town team", the

Beaufort Street Beaufort Street is a major road in the inner north-eastern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, connecting the Morley area to the Perth central business district. For most of its length, it is a single-carriageway, two-way road with two lanes i ...

Network, and co-founded the

Beaufort Street Festival The Beaufort Street Festival was an annual community street festival in Perth, Western Australia that took place each November along Beaufort Street and other nearby streets. The event ran five times from 2010 to 2015. It ran through the suburbs ...

. He also founded the Brain Tumour Association of WA after his mother was diagnosed with

glioblastoma Glioblastoma, previously known as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), is one of the most aggressive types of cancer that begin within the brain. Initially, signs and symptoms of glioblastoma are nonspecific. They may include headaches, personality ch ...

City of Vincent

Carey was elected to the

City of Vincent The City of Vincent is a local government area of Western Australia. It covers an area of approximately in metropolitan Perth, the capital of Western Australia, and lies about 3 km from the Perth CBD. The City of Vincent maintains 139&nbs ...

council in 2011. In his first term, he initiated a register for same-sex couples to register their relationship with the City of Vincent, in lieu of the federal government allowing same-sex marriage. He also criticised the state government's council merger plans, which would have resulted in the City of Vincent being split between the cities of

Bayswater Bayswater is an area within the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

and

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

. In 2013, he was elected

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

with 87.12% of the vote, succeeding

Alannah MacTiernan Alannah Joan Geraldine Cecilia MacTiernan (born 10 January 1953) is an Australian politician. Since 1988, she has served in politics at a federal, state, and local level, including as a minister in the Western Australian state governments of Ge ...

, who had resigned as she had won the federal seat of

. As Mayor of Vincent, Carey advocated for greater transparency and accountability in local government, writing and releasing a public discussion paper "Raising the Bar", and introduced a series of measures to enhance public reporting at the City of Vincent, including an online gifts register and WA's first contact with developers register. During his tenure in 2016 with a new CEO at the helm and council, the City of Vincent was independently rated first among 25 councils, receiving an overall performance score of 82 out of 100, compared to 16th out of 18 councils in 2010. The Catalyse Community Scorecard surveys households across a local government area, and found the City of Vincent ranked highest in 18 out of 40 benchmarks, including place to live, governing organisation, and the city's leadership within the community.

Parliament

In March 2016, Carey confirmed that he was seeking

preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presele ...

as the Labor Party candidate for the seat of

in the

, the

of the

. The seat had been won by the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

's Eleni Evangel at the previous election. He said that residents were bringing to him issues that he could not solve at a local government level. He was officially preselected on 8 March. In December 2016, Carey announced his resignation as Mayor effective 30 January 2017. Stepping down ahead of the state election enabled the mayoral by-election to be held with the already-scheduled by-election to replace retiring councillor

Laine McDonald Laine Courtney McDonald is an Australian politician. She was a Labor member of the Western Australian Legislative Council for North Metropolitan from 27 September 2016, when she was elected in a countback following the resignation of Ken Traver ...

. At the 2017 state election on 11 March, Carey was elected as the member for Perth, winning 61.8% of the

two-party-preferred vote In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP, ...

and a two-party-preferred swing of 14.6%. From 17 March 2017 to 19 March 2021, Carey was parliamentary secretary to

Mark McGowan Mark McGowan (born 13 July 1967) is an Australian politician, the 30th premier of Western Australia, and the leader of the Western Australian branch of the Labor Party. McGowan was born and raised in Newcastle, New South Wales. He attended t ...

, who was the

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

, minister for public sector management, minister for state development, jobs and trade, and minister for federal-state relations. From 3 August 2017 to 19 March 2021, he was also parliamentary secretary to

Rita Saffioti Rita Saffioti (born 26 May 1972) is an Australian politician. Representing the Australian Labor Party, she has been the member for the electoral district of West Swan in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, the lower house of the Parli ...

, who was the

minister for transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...

, minister for planning and minister for lands (until 13 December 2018). In August 2017, Carey hosted the Perth City Summit, which over 350 residents, business operators and property owners attended. The purpose was to discuss and develop projects and plans to improve Perth. Among the summit's recommendations are for a new university campus to be created in the Perth central business district, for new cycling infrastructure to be constructed and to remove alfresco fees for businesses. At the 2021 state election on 13 March, Carey was re-elected as the member for Perth, winning 79.3% of the two-party-preferred vote and a two-party-preferred swing of 16.6%. Since 19 March 2021, Carey has been the minister for housing and minister for local government, succeeding

Peter Tinley Peter Charles Tinley (born 9 July 1962) is an Australian politician and former soldier. Peter has been a Labor Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly since November 2009, representing the electorate of Willagee. Early li ...

and

David Templeman David Alan Templeman (born 21 November 1965) is an Australian politician who has been a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia since 2001, representing the seat of Mandurah. He is Leader of the House and Minist ...

respectively. Since 21 December 2021, Carey has also been the minister for lands, succeeding

Tony Buti Antonio De Paulo "Tony" Buti (born 20 August 1961) is an Australian politician. He has been a Labor Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly representing the seat of Armadale since 2 October 2010, when he was elected in a b ...

, and the minister for homelessness, a newly created ministry. Responsibility for homelessness was previously held by the minister for community services. The CEO of Shelter WA, the state's peak group for ending homelessness, said "we know Minister Carey has been a passionate champion for homelessness during his time as the Member for Perth." The departments, agencies and offices under Carey's responsibility are the Department of Communities,

Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries The Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries is a department of the Government of Western Australia. The department was formed on 1 July 2017, out of the former Department of Culture and the Arts, Department of Local Govern ...

Landgate The Western Australian Land Information Authority operates under the business name of Landgate. Formerly known as the Department of Land Information (DLI), the Department of Land Administration (DOLA) and the Department of Lands and Surveys ( ...

DevelopmentWA DevelopmentWA is a land development agency of the Government of Western Australia, Western Australian government. It was formed in September 2019 as a merger of the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority and the Western Australian Land Authority, ...

and the Metropolitan Cemeteries Board. On 10 November 2021, Carey announced major reforms to

local government in Western Australia There are 137 local government areas of Western Australia (LGAs), which are areas, towns and districts in Western Australia that manage their own affairs to the extent permitted by the ''Local Government Act 1995''. The ''Local Government Act ...

. The proposed changes include making local government elections have

preferential voting {{short description, Election systems Preferential voting or preference voting (PV) may refer to different election systems or groups of election systems: * Ranked voting methods, all election methods that involve ranking candidates in order of pr ...

like at state and federal elections, as opposed to the currently used method of

first-past-the-post voting In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

; making larger local governments have directly elected mayors or presidents, as opposed to them being elected by councillors; a mandatory caretaker period before elections; livestreaming of council meetings online and posting of recordings; the formation of a local government inspector to investigate and fix dysfunctional councils in an attempt to avoid the need for expensive enquiries; further define the roles and responsibilities of councillors and local government CEOs; and new rules for the number of councillors for each local government. Legislation for this will be introduced to parliament in 2022. As Lands Minister, Carey was responsible for the passage of the Wittenoom Closure Bill, which passed in March 2022. This allowed the government to permanently close the former town of Wittenoom by compulsorily acquiring the remaining private properties and removing all infrastructure from the town. The town had been declared a contaminated site due to

asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...

mining, but several people still lived there and visited there. In September 2022, the last resident was evicted.

Political views

Carey is affiliated with the

United Workers Union The United Workers Union (UWU) is an Australian trade union. Described as the biggest blue-collar union in Australia, the UWU covers more than 150,000 workers within over 45 industries, including warehousing, defence, hospitality, health, disabil ...

and is part of the

Labor Left The Labor Left, also known as the Progressive Left or Socialist Left, is political faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It competes with the more economically liberal Labor Right faction. The Labor Left operates autonomously in each s ...

faction. He is a strong supporter of small business, and believes in reducing red tape for them.

Personal life

Carey is openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carey, John 1974 births Living people Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly 21st-century Australian politicians Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Mayors of places in Western Australia Gay politicians LGBT legislators in Australia Labor Left politicians Politicians from Perth, Western Australia Murdoch University alumni Western Australian local councillors