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

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

. He has represented the seat of ''Perth'' 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, Perth, Parliament House in the Western Australian capi ...

since 11 March 2017. Carey was elevated to

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

in March 2021 following Premier Mark McGowan’s historic

re-election The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be a ...

victory, taking on the portfolios of

Housing Housing refers to a property containing one or more Shelter (building), shelter as a living space. Housing spaces are inhabited either by individuals or a collective group of people. Housing is also referred to as a human need and right to ...

and

Local Government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

. After Labor’s third successive landslide win in the 2025 state election, Premier Roger Cook appointed Carey as Minister for

Planning Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. Some researchers regard the evolution of forethought - the cap ...

and Lands,

and

Works Works may refer to: People * Caddy Works (1896–1982), American college sports coach * John D. Works (1847–1928), California senator and judge * Samuel Works (c. 1781–1868), New York politician Albums * ''Works'' (Pink Floyd album), a Pi ...

, and Health Infrastructure. He previously served as Mayor of the City of Vincent from 19 October 2013 to 30 January 2017.

Early life and career

John Carey was born on 11 July 1974 in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, to Delys Carey and John William “Jack” Carey, a member of the 2/2nd Commando Squadron who served in the

Battle of Timor The Battle of Timor occurred in Portuguese Timor and West Timor, Dutch Timor during the Second World War. Empire of Japan, Japanese forces invaded the island on 19 February 1942 and were resisted by a small, under-equipped force of Allies of Worl ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 2001, Jack Carey was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his contributions to veteran welfare and his support of the Timorese people through the 2/2nd Commando Association. Carey attended Bateman Primary School and Corpus Christi College. He went on to

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 ...

, 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 for 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 Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

Conservation Project for the Pew Environment Group, where he successfully campaigned for the creation of the Great Kimberley Marine Park. 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, Western Australia, Morley area to the Perth central business district. For most of its length, it is a single-carriageway, tw ...

Network, and co-founded the Beaufort Street Festival. He also founded the Brain Tumour Association of WA after his mother was diagnosed with

glioblastoma Glioblastoma, previously known as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), is the most aggressive and most common type of cancer that originates in the brain, and has a very poor prognosis for survival. Initial signs and symptoms of glioblastoma are nons ...

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&nb ...

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 in 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 (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

. In 2013, he was elected

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...

with 87.12% of the vote, succeeding

Alannah MacTiernan Alannah Joan Geraldine Cecilia MacTiernan (born 10 January 1953) is a former Australian politician. From 1988 to 2023, she has served in politics at a federal, state, and local level, including as a minister in the Western Australian state gove ...

, 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 presel ...

as the Labor Party candidate for the seat of

in the

, the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

of the

Parliament of Western Australia The Parliament of Western Australia is the bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia, which constitutes the legislative branch of the state's political system. The parl ...

. 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. For example, while the political systems ...

Eleni Evangel Eleni Evangel is a former Australian politician who was the member for the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Perth from 2013 to 2017. She was a City of Perth councillor between 2005 and 2013. Evangel, who is of Greek descent, was ...

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. 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 opinion poll or a projection of an election result where preferences are distributed to one of the two major parties, the Labor Party and the Liberal/Nati ...

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 former politician and naval officer who served as the 30th premier of Western Australia from 2017 until his retirement in 2023. He was the leader of the Western Australian branch of the Austr ...

, 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 govern ...

, 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, 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 a ...

, 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 Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of bicycle pedal, pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the ...

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 was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 2001 to 2025, representing the seat of Mandurah. Early life Templeman was born i ...

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 by ...

, 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 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 & the Arts, Department of Local Governme ...

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 Western Australian government. It was formed in September 2019 as a merger of the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority and the Western Australian Land Authority, then known as Landcorp. Develo ...

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

local government in Western Australia Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

. The proposed changes include making local government elections have

preferential voting Preferential voting or preference voting (PV) may refer to different election systems or groups of election systems: * Any electoral system that allows a voter to indicate multiple preferences where preferences marked are weighted or used as cont ...

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

first-past-the-post voting First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or first-preference, and the candidate with more first- ...

; 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, the Local Government Amendment Bill 2023, passed the Legislative Assembly on 24 March 2023 and has yet to pass the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

. 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 group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...

mining, but several people still lived there and visited there. In September 2022, the last resident was evicted. Carey was appointed Minister for Planning in the Cook ministry, sworn in on 8 June 2023 following Mark McGowan’s resignation and Roger Cook’s elevation to premier. As part of the reshuffle the Local Government, the portfolio was handed to newly elevated Cabinet Member, David Michael. Following the 2025 state election, Carey was sworn in by His Excellency the

Governor of Western Australia The governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of the monarch, King Charles III. As with the other governors of the Australian states, the governor of Western Australia performs constitutional, ceremonial and commun ...

, Chris Dawson APM, on 19 March 2025 as Minister for Planning and Lands; Housing and Works; and Health Infrastructure. In the aftermath of WA Labor’s third successive electoral landslide, Premier Roger Cook moved to consolidate his government’s reform agenda with a wide-ranging Cabinet reshuffle. John Carey was appointed to two newly created portfolios:

and Health Infrastructure. The establishment of Health Infrastructure was created to create greater focus on the delivery of major capital investments, among them, the new Women’s and Babies Hospital to replace the ageing King Edward Memorial Hospital. The Works portfolio was similarly carved out to provide centralised oversight of public infrastructure, aiming to bring coherence to the intersecting demands of housing, planning and construction, amid constraints with labour supply. The

Health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

and

Mental Health Mental health is often mistakenly equated with the absence of mental illness. However, mental health refers to a person's overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences how individuals think, feel, and behave, and how t ...

Portfolios passed to first-time minister Meredith Hammat.

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 (LL), also known as the Progressive Left, Socialist Left or simply the Left, is one of the two major political factions within the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It is nationally characterised by social progressivism and democra ...

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 ...

and has been a visible advocate for

LGBTQ+ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group i ...

inclusion in public life. His openness about his identity has contributed to greater visibility and representation within Western Australian politics.

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 Australian gay politicians LGBTQ legislators in Australia Labor Left politicians Politicians from Perth, Western Australia Murdoch University alumni Western Australian local councillors