Alan Carpenter

Alan Carpenter
Alan Carpenter
Born	Alan John Carpenter; January 4, 1957 (age 69); Albany, Western Australia, Australia
Occupation(s)	Politician, Journalist, Corporate executive
Years active	1980s–2009 (politics), 2009–2018 (corporate)
Known for	28th Premier of Western Australia

Alan John Carpenter (born 4 January 1957) is a former Australian political figure who held the position of the 28th Premier of Western Australia between 2006 and 2008. Hailing from Albany, Carpenter completed his studies at the University of Western Australia and initially pursued a career in journalism prior to entering the political arena. As a representative of the Labor Party, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly in the 1996 state election for the Willagee constituency.

Within the Gallop ministry, established after the 2001 election, Carpenter held several ministerial roles, including that of Minister for Education and Training. He assumed the premiership in January 2006 following the resignation of Geoff Gallop. Nevertheless, after the 2008 election resulted in a hung parliament, Labor was ousted from power, with Colin Barnett leading a minority government from the Liberal Party. Carpenter resigned his parliamentary seat in 2009 and later took on an executive position at Wesfarmers, where he served until 2018.

Education

Born in Albany, Western Australia, Carpenter attended Mount Lockyer Primary School followed by Albany Senior High School. After completing his secondary education in 1974, he spent time traveling across Australia undertaking various occupations before enrolling at the University of Western Australia in 1977 to study political science, graduating in 1980.

Media career

Carpenter’s initial professional experience was as a journalist with the Albany Advertiser. In 1982, he spent nearly a year working across Asia and then three years undertaking diverse roles throughout Europe. Upon returning to Australia in 1986, he joined Perth's TVW-7 as a reporter covering state politics. In 1990, he transitioned to the ABC, where he became Western Australia’s presenter for The 7.30 Report in 1992 and later served as the first host of Stateline starting in 1996.

Politics

In 1996, Carpenter left the ABC to enter politics, successfully contesting the newly created seat of Willagee for the ALP. Throughout his political career, he held shadow and ministerial portfolios including education, sport and recreation, indigenous affairs, state development, and energy during his tenure in the Gallop ministry.

After Premier Geoff Gallop stepped down in January 2006, Carpenter gained crucial support from the Metal Workers Union and was elected unchallenged by Labor’s caucus as Premier on 24 January. His firm handling of corruption controversies linked to former Premier Brian Burke significantly increased his approval ratings to around 60% by March 2007.

By late 2007, Labor’s popularity had diminished with polling figures dropping to approximately 49%, indicating a swing away from them. Despite Labor’s nationwide success at the 2007 federal election, it lost two seats within Western Australia. Nonetheless, Carpenter retained a higher preferred premier rating compared to opposition leader Paul Omodei.

In August 2008, following opposition leader Troy Buswell’s resignation amid scandal, Carpenter called for an early state election. During this campaign, he committed to prohibiting uranium mining within Western Australia, marking a reversal of previous ALP policy. The election produced a hung parliament; although Labor remained the largest party, it fell two seats short of forming a majority government. Attempts to negotiate with the National Party were unsuccessful as they chose to support the Liberals instead. Consequently, Colin Barnett replaced Carpenter as Premier. Carpenter subsequently resigned as Labor leader in favor of his deputy, Eric Ripper.

He officially retired from political life on 2 October 2009.

Carpenter’s impact resurfaced in public discourse in 2022 when gas prices secured during his administration were compared favorably against rising costs experienced on Australia's eastern seaboard.

Post-political career

In late 2009, Carpenter took on the role of executive general manager for corporate affairs at Wesfarmers, Australia's leading private sector employer. He remained in this position until his retirement in 2018.

Personal life

Carpenter is married and has four daughters. He openly identifies as an atheist.

External links

Wesfarmers corporate leadership profile