New premier Ben Carroll is busy putting his stamp on the state Labor government he took the leadership of last week. After distancing himself from his predecessors ("I'm not Daniel Andrews. I'm not Jacinta Allan") his first action was to call a royal commission into construction industry corruption, something the previous premier refused to do.
Mr Carroll has assembled his inner office and has started working outwards to the ministry and senior bureaucracy. An early sign of the finance people being back in charge was current DTF Secretary Chris Barrett moving across to head Premier and Cabinet.
His new ministry is 2 people smaller than the one it replaced. And some portfolios have been removed.
Mr Carroll has assembled his inner office and has started working outwards to the ministry and senior bureaucracy. An early sign of the finance people being back in charge was current DTF Secretary Chris Barrett moving across to head Premier and Cabinet.
His new ministry is 2 people smaller than the one it replaced. And some portfolios have been removed.
The new ministry
Appointed this morning. Colin Brooks (Bundoora MP) becomes Treasurer. Sonya Kilkenny loses Finance but keeps Planning and Attorney-General portfolios.
Vicki Ward (Eltham MP) becomes the new Public Transport Minister after being responsible for Emergency Services. And Box Hill member Paul Hamer, who has an engineering background, picks up Roads and Road Safety. The new roles would be seen as promotions for both.
Ms Ward replaces Gabrielle Williams who is elevated to become Deputy Premier and takes on Education. Mr Hamer replaces Ros Spence who gains Youth Justice and Corrections roles.
Some titles have changed. Active Transport is dropped from a ministerial title. Transport Infrastructure and Suburban Rail Loop lose their separate ministerial roles. Though we have yet to see whether some of these get mentioned in Parliamentary Secretary titles.
Vicki Ward (Eltham MP) becomes the new Public Transport Minister after being responsible for Emergency Services. And Box Hill member Paul Hamer, who has an engineering background, picks up Roads and Road Safety. The new roles would be seen as promotions for both.
Ms Ward replaces Gabrielle Williams who is elevated to become Deputy Premier and takes on Education. Mr Hamer replaces Ros Spence who gains Youth Justice and Corrections roles.
Some titles have changed. Active Transport is dropped from a ministerial title. Transport Infrastructure and Suburban Rail Loop lose their separate ministerial roles. Though we have yet to see whether some of these get mentioned in Parliamentary Secretary titles.
Broader context
In transport the capital intensive "it costs what it costs" Big Build Allanism appears to be winding down in favour of a financially tighter Bracks-like style. Of interest is that Transport Infrastructure and SRL do not feature in the new ministry as separate portfolio names.
Mr Carroll appears closer to Bracks than his immediate two predecessors and holds similar stricter attitudes with regards to budgets and borrowing. As a general guide, I get the sense that Steve Bracks would rather break a promise to save the budget whereas Daniel Andrews would rather break the budget to honour a promise. Much of this would have been a perceived need to build trust in Labor as responsible financial managers following the chaotic last few years of the Cain-Kirner government.
Andrews famously said "We say what we do and do what we say". In 2022 I concluded there was a lot of truth in this based on 2014 promises. However Andrews was also not above raising and then dashing expectations when electoral opportunities beckoned, such as the pivot from the Western Rail Plan to SRL East, as documented by Kos Samaras here. While this delivered large victories in 2018 and 2022 it did not assist Labor's standing in the north and west, something that is high on Mr Carroll's agenda to restore.
As for Steve Bracks, while he is universally loved across Labor, his government's record in metropolitan public transport was patchy with many 1999 transport promises broken, falling rail reliability, signing ill-advised myki and Southern Cross Station contracts and needless system rebranding. On the positive side there were restored and improved regional rail services and the biggest uplift in metropolitan bus services for at least 50 years. And under minister Peter Batchelor it made a hard decision on Eastlink tolling due to the need to rescue the collapsed metropolitan rail franchises signed by the previous government.
Mr Carroll most differs from Bracks in the timing of when he became premier. Bracks came in as leader of a fresh, albeit minority, government that governed for over a decade. Mr Carroll comes in at what could be the end of a 12 year old government with an election just four months away.
Someone who is possibly a better parallel is WA's Carmen Lawrence. She was also the third premier in a long-term Labor government soured by corruption allegations. As well as coming to the role from the Education portfolio she also called a Royal Commission into what became known as 'WA Inc'.
Challenges for the new minister
In transport the capital intensive "it costs what it costs" Big Build Allanism appears to be winding down in favour of a financially tighter Bracks-like style. Of interest is that Transport Infrastructure and SRL do not feature in the new ministry as separate portfolio names.
Mr Carroll appears closer to Bracks than his immediate two predecessors and holds similar stricter attitudes with regards to budgets and borrowing. As a general guide, I get the sense that Steve Bracks would rather break a promise to save the budget whereas Daniel Andrews would rather break the budget to honour a promise. Much of this would have been a perceived need to build trust in Labor as responsible financial managers following the chaotic last few years of the Cain-Kirner government.
Andrews famously said "We say what we do and do what we say". In 2022 I concluded there was a lot of truth in this based on 2014 promises. However Andrews was also not above raising and then dashing expectations when electoral opportunities beckoned, such as the pivot from the Western Rail Plan to SRL East, as documented by Kos Samaras here. While this delivered large victories in 2018 and 2022 it did not assist Labor's standing in the north and west, something that is high on Mr Carroll's agenda to restore.
As for Steve Bracks, while he is universally loved across Labor, his government's record in metropolitan public transport was patchy with many 1999 transport promises broken, falling rail reliability, signing ill-advised myki and Southern Cross Station contracts and needless system rebranding. On the positive side there were restored and improved regional rail services and the biggest uplift in metropolitan bus services for at least 50 years. And under minister Peter Batchelor it made a hard decision on Eastlink tolling due to the need to rescue the collapsed metropolitan rail franchises signed by the previous government.
Mr Carroll most differs from Bracks in the timing of when he became premier. Bracks came in as leader of a fresh, albeit minority, government that governed for over a decade. Mr Carroll comes in at what could be the end of a 12 year old government with an election just four months away.
Someone who is possibly a better parallel is WA's Carmen Lawrence. She was also the third premier in a long-term Labor government soured by corruption allegations. As well as coming to the role from the Education portfolio she also called a Royal Commission into what became known as 'WA Inc'.
Challenges for the new minister
This is unlikely to be the season for future 'Big Build' projects, even though significant needs remain as Melbourne continues to grow. And there are pressures due to the government facing an election in less than four months.
Instead emphasis is likely to be on making use of our existing assets and service improvements. This direction was to some extent set in the 2025 and 2026 State Budgets under previous minister Gabrielle Williams. But there's a huge backlog to catch up on given how much priorities were skewed against service for so long.
I outlined some priorities for public transport under the Carroll government here.
Instead emphasis is likely to be on making use of our existing assets and service improvements. This direction was to some extent set in the 2025 and 2026 State Budgets under previous minister Gabrielle Williams. But there's a huge backlog to catch up on given how much priorities were skewed against service for so long.
I outlined some priorities for public transport under the Carroll government here.
Past blog posts on recent PT ministers
Testing times for Minister Horne
Challenges for Minister Carroll
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