Alan John Carpenter is a former
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n politician. He was the 28th
Premier of Western AustraliaThe Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. The Premier has similar functions in Western Australia to those performed by the Prime Minister of Australia at the national level, subject to the different Constitutions...
, serving from 2006 to 2008. He took office following the resignation of Dr
Geoff GallopGeoffrey Ian Gallop, AC is an Australian academic and former politician. He was the Premier of Western Australia from 2001 to 2006. He currently resides in Sydney.-Early life and education:...
. His government was defeated at the
2008 electionA general election was held in the state of Western Australia on Saturday 6 September 2008 to elect 59 members to the Legislative Assembly and 36 members to the Legislative Council...
.
Carpenter was a
LaborThe Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
member of the
Western Australian Legislative AssemblyThe Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Perth....
from 1996 to 2009, representing the district of
WillageeWillagee is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia.The district is located in the southern suburbs of Perth.Willagee has at all times been a safe Labor seat.-Geography:...
. Prior to becoming Premier he was Minister for Education and Indigenous Affairs (2001–2003), Minister for Education and Training (2003–2005), and Minister for State Development and Minister for Energy (2005–2006).
Education
Carpenter was born in
AlbanyAlbany is a port city in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, some 418 km SE of Perth, the state capital. As of 2009, Albany's population was estimated at 33,600, making it the 6th-largest city in the state....
,
Western AustraliaWestern Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
,was educated at Lockyer Primary School then
Albany Senior High SchoolAlbany Senior High School is a comprehensive public high school located in Albany, a regional centre south-southeast of Perth, Western Australia. The school was established in 1918...
. After graduating in 1974, he travelled Australia, working a variety of different jobs before returning in 1977 to study
political sciencePolitical Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
at the
University of Western AustraliaThe University of Western Australia was established by an Act of the Western Australian Parliament in February 1911, and began teaching students for the first time in 1913. It is the oldest university in the state of Western Australia and the only university in the state to be a member of the...
and graduated in 1979.
Media career
Carpenter began working for the
Albany Advertiser as a journalist. In 1982 he travelled overseas, spending 11 months in Asia and then moving to Europe, where he worked in various jobs for three years. He returned to Australia in 1986, and began working for the
PerthPerth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
television station
TVW-7TVW is a television station broadcasting in Perth, Western Australia, wholly owned by the Seven Network. It was the first television station in Western Australia, commencing service on 16 October 1959. It broadcasts analogue on VHF 7 and digital on VHF 6 from Bickley located in the Perth Hills...
as a reporter on politics within the state. In 1990 Carpenter moved to the
ABCThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
, continuing his role as state political reporter in his new job. He moved up through the ranks in the ABC, becoming the Western Australian presenter of
The 7.30 ReportThe 7.30 Report is an Australian nightly television current affairs program, that was shown on ABC1 and ABC News 24 at , Mondays–Thursdays...
in 1992 (succeeding
Liam BartlettLiam Bartlett is a journalist from Perth, Western Australia.He currently works on the Nine Network's 60 Minutes current affairs program. Previously, he had a six year stint with ABC radio station 720 ABC Perth, presenting the morning program. He had previously worked for GWN in Bunbury as a news...
in the role), and moving on to become the first presenter of
Stateline in 1996.
Politics
He resigned from the ABC in 1996 to begin a career in politics, and was preselected by the ALP to run for the new seat of
WillageeWillagee is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia.The district is located in the southern suburbs of Perth.Willagee has at all times been a safe Labor seat.-Geography:...
, which he won. During his time in parliament he was shadow minister for Disability Services, Sport & Recreation, Family & Children's Services, Education, Drugs, and as a member of the Government, Minister for Education, Sport & Recreation, Indigenous Affairs, Education and Training, State Development, and Energy in the
Gallop MinistryThe Gallop Ministry was the 33rd Ministry of the Government of Western Australia, and was led by Labor Premier Geoff Gallop and his deputy, Eric Ripper. It succeeded the Court-Cowan Ministry on 16 February 2001, following the defeat of the Liberal-National coalition government at the 2001 election...
.
When
Geoff GallopGeoffrey Ian Gallop, AC is an Australian academic and former politician. He was the Premier of Western Australia from 2001 to 2006. He currently resides in Sydney.-Early life and education:...
resigned as a result of depression in January 2006, Carpenter quickly emerged as the leading candidate to succeed him. With the decisions of potential rivals
Jim McGintyJames Andrew McGinty is an Australian politician. He was a Labor member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1990 to 2009, representing the district of Fremantle. He was Labor Party leader and Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1996...
and
Michelle RobertsMichelle Hopkins Roberts is an Australian politician. A member of the Australian Labor Party, she currently represents the Electoral district of Midland in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly....
to withdraw from the race, he was elected unopposed as Premier by the Labor caucus on 24 January.
After November 2006, Carpenter removed three cabinet ministers in four months for impropriety exposed by the
Corruption and Crime CommissionThe Corruption and Crime Commission is a permanent investigative commission established by the Government of Western Australia in 2003, largely as a result of the findings of a Royal Commission into the state's police service. Its role is to investigate public corruption...
involving former WA Premier
Brian BurkeBrian Thomas Burke was Labor premier of Western Australia from 25 February 1983 until his resignation on 25 February 1988...
. Nevertheless, Carpenter's "no-nonsense" approach in dealing with this issue attracted a 60% public approval rating in opinion polls in late March 2007 (making him one of Australia's most popular state leaders, along with
South AustraliaSouth Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
n Premier
Mike RannMichael David Rann MHA, CNZM , Australian politician, served as the 44th Premier of South Australia. He led the South Australian branch of the Australian Labor Party to minority government at the 2002 election, before attaining a landslide win at the 2006 election...
).
Late 2007 saw dissatisfaction with Carpenter rising and satisfaction falling. Two party preferred polling of 49 percent for Labor was a swing against them. However his opponent, Liberal Party Leader
Paul OmodeiPaul Domenic Omodei , Australian politician, was the leader of the Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition in Western Australia from 24 March 2006 until 17 January 2008....
was experiencing rising levels of dissatisfaction and a stagnant and low satisfaction rating. On the Preferred Premier measure, Carpenter out-polled Omodei 63-13.
Carpenter called a
state electionA general election was held in the state of Western Australia on Saturday 6 September 2008 to elect 59 members to the Legislative Assembly and 36 members to the Legislative Council...
the day after Opposition Leader
Troy BuswellTroy Raymond Buswell is currently the Liberal member for the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Vasse, and the Minister for Transport and Minister for Housing. He was Leader of the Opposition for several months in 2008, then served as Treasurer of Western Australia in the Barnett...
stood aside for
Colin BarnettColin James Barnett , Australian politician, is the leader of the Western Australian Liberal Party, the 29th and current Premier of Western Australia since the 2008 election and served as the Treasurer of Western Australia in 2010. He was sworn into office by Governor Ken Michael on 23 September 2008...
, following a number of scandals involving Buswell. In a break with longstanding tradition, the election was set for 6 September 2008, five months earlier than was due.
During the election campaign, Carpenter promised a ban on uranium mining in Western Australia if elected, reversing previous ALP policy, the ALP having rejected a
GreensThe Greens Western Australia is the state branch of the Australian Greens in Western Australia. The Greens WA was formed following the merger of the WA Greens and the Green Earth Alliance...
-initiated bill to ban uranium mining in April 2008.
The election saw a substantial swing in most seats away from Labor, towards the
LiberalThe Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
and Green Parties, resulting in a
hung ParliamentIn a two-party parliamentary system of government, a hung parliament occurs when neither major political party has an absolute majority of seats in the parliament . It is also less commonly known as a balanced parliament or a legislature under no overall control...
. Under pressure to resign as Parliamentary Labor leader, Carpenter began negotiations with the
National PartyThe National Party of Western Australia is a political party in Western Australia. It is affiliated with the National Party of Australia but maintains a separate structure and identity....
with a view to forming a
minority governmentA minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
, however the Nationals ultimately decided to support the Liberals in forming a minority government. As a result, Alan Carpenter was succeeded by Colin Barnett as Western Australian Premier, and stepped down as Labor leader in favour of his deputy,
Eric RipperEric Stephen Ripper is the Leader of the Opposition and leader of the Labor Party in Western Australia.He grew up on a wheat/sheep farm near Nyabing. Ripper later attended Churchlands Senior High School and the University of Western Australia, from which he received a Bachelor of Arts and a...
.
On 25 September 2009, Carpenter announced his retirement from politics, effective 2 October 2009.
Post-political career
Carpenter joined
WesfarmersWesfarmers Limited is one of Australia’s largest public companies and one of Australia's largest retailers. Its headquarters are in Perth, Western Australia....
as executive general manager for corporate affairs in late 2009.
Personal life
Carpenter is married to Annmarie de Costa, and has four daughters, Grace, Claudia, Isabelle and Ava. Carpenter is an atheist.
External links