Alan Carpenter facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Honourable Alan Carpenter
Carpenter delivering a speech at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Baton Relay, Kings Park
28th Premier of Western Australia
In office 25 January 2006 – 23 September 2008
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor	Ken Michael
Deputy	Eric Ripper
Preceded by	Geoff Gallop
Succeeded by	Colin Barnett
Leader of the Western Australian Labor Party
In office 24 January 2006 – 16 September 2008
Preceded by	Geoff Gallop
Succeeded by	Eric Ripper
Minister for Energy and State Development
In office 10 March 2005 – 3 February 2006
Preceded by	Eric Ripper
Succeeded by	Fran Logan
Minister for Education and Training
In office 16 February 2001 – 10 March 2005
Preceded by	Colin Barnett
Succeeded by	Ljiljanna Ravlich
Member of the Western Australian Parliament for Willagee
In office 14 December 1996 – 2 October 2009
Preceded by	Constituency created
Succeeded by	Peter Tinley
Personal details
Born	Alan John Carpenter (1957-01-04) 4 January 1957 (age 68) Albany, Western Australia
Political party	Labor Party
Profession	Journalist

Alan John Carpenter (born January 4, 1957) is an Australian politician. He was the 28th Premier of Western Australia from 2006 to 2008. The Premier is like the leader of the state government.

Carpenter grew up in Albany, Western Australia. He went to the University of Western Australia. Before becoming a politician, he worked as a journalist. He was a member of the Labor Party.

He was first elected to the state parliament in 1996. He represented the area called Willagee. When the Labor Party won the 2001 election, Carpenter became a minister. He was in charge of education and other important areas.

In January 2006, he became Premier after Geoff Gallop resigned. However, his party lost the election in 2008. This led to a situation called a hung parliament. Colin Barnett then became Premier. Carpenter left parliament in 2009. He later worked in a senior role for a big company called Wesfarmers until 2018.

Early Life and Education

Alan Carpenter was born in Albany, Western Australia. He went to Mount Lockyer Primary School. Then he attended Albany Senior High School.

After finishing school in 1974, he traveled around Australia. He did many different jobs. In 1977, he returned to study political science at the University of Western Australia. He finished his degree in 1980.

Media Career

Carpenter started his career as a journalist. He worked for a newspaper called the Albany Advertiser. In 1982, he traveled overseas. He spent time in Asia and Europe. He worked in various jobs for three years.

He came back to Australia in 1986. He started working for a TV station in Perth, called TVW-7. He was a reporter who covered state politics. In 1990, Carpenter moved to the ABC. He continued to report on state politics there.

He moved up in his career at the ABC. In 1992, he became the presenter for The 7.30 Report in Western Australia. Later, in 1996, he was the first presenter of a show called Stateline.

Political Journey

Carpenter decided to leave the ABC in 1996. He wanted to start a career in politics. The Labor Party chose him to run for the new area of Willagee. He won the election and became a member of parliament.

During his time in parliament, he held many important roles. He was a "shadow minister" when his party was not in power. This meant he was the main spokesperson for certain areas. He covered disability services, sport, and education.

When his party formed the government, he became a "minister." This meant he was in charge of government departments. He was the Minister for Education, Sport, Indigenous Affairs, and Energy. These roles were part of the government led by Geoff Gallop.

Becoming Premier

In January 2006, Premier Geoff Gallop resigned due to illness. Alan Carpenter quickly became the top choice to take over. He received important support from a union. Other potential leaders decided not to run against him. So, on January 24, he was chosen as Premier without anyone opposing him.

After November 2006, Carpenter made some tough decisions. He removed three ministers from his team. This happened because of issues involving a former Premier. Carpenter's strong and direct way of handling these problems was popular. Many people approved of his actions.

Challenges and Election

Towards the end of 2007, some people started to feel less happy with Carpenter. Public support for his party, Labor, began to drop. Western Australia was the only state where voters supported the main opposition party in the 2007 federal election.

In 2008, Carpenter decided to call a state election early. This was unusual. He set the election for September 6, 2008. During the election campaign, Carpenter promised to ban uranium mining in Western Australia. This was a change from his party's earlier policy.

The election results showed a big shift in votes. Many people voted for the Liberal and Greens parties instead of Labor. This resulted in a hung parliament. A hung parliament means no single party won enough seats to form a government on its own.

Labor was still the biggest party, but they did not have enough seats to form a majority. Carpenter tried to work with the National Party to form a government. However, the Nationals decided to support the Liberals instead.

Because of this, Alan Carpenter was replaced by Colin Barnett as Premier. Carpenter then stepped down as the Labor leader. His deputy, Eric Ripper, took over that role.

On September 25, 2009, Carpenter announced he was leaving politics. His last day was October 2, 2009. His work on gas prices for Western Australia was still talked about in 2022. The prices he negotiated were much lower than in other parts of Australia.

After Politics

After leaving politics, Alan Carpenter joined Wesfarmers in late 2009. This is one of Australia's largest private companies. He worked as an executive general manager for corporate affairs. He retired from this role in 2018.

Personal Life

Alan Carpenter is married and has four daughters. He is an atheist.

See Also

In Spanish: Alan Carpenter para niños

• Carpenter Ministry