In ۲۰۲۳, when then-public transport minister Ben Carroll failed in his surprising bid to secure the leadership of the Victorian Labor party, he told a press conference: “I was always very keen to rise.”
The premier Daniel Andrews had resigned believing he had locked in his succession plan: his loyal deputy Jacinta Allan as premier, and treasurer Tim Pallas as deputy.
But Carroll, a relatively little-known junior minister from Labor’s diminished right faction, refused to fall into line.
What was meant to be a short, box-ticking caucus meeting turned into a marathon debate, with Carroll threatening to challenge Allan for the leadership unless he was made deputy. The standoff reportedly provoked an expletive-laden outburst from Andrews, but Carroll got his way – and the job.
Asked about the meeting just hours later, Carroll replied that he’d always wanted to rise up the party’s ranks. “I’ve had ۱۴ portfolios over six years … and I’m always looking to see how I can continue to increase my contribution to this outstanding Labor government,” he said.
Less than three years on, he has emerged as Allan’s only contender for the leadership, just four months out from a state election.
Carroll, ۵۱, was elected to parliament in ۲۰۱۲ as the member for Niddrie in Melbourne’s west, encompassing Essendon West, Keilor East, and Airport West, where he grew up and still lives with his wife Fiona and daughter Madeliene. It was in his home suburb where he got his first job, at Kmart, joining the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) and being introduced to unionism.
Carroll has claimed his journey into politics truly began in ۱۹۹۶, when he was offered a tour around Canberra by Simon Crean, then federal member for Hotham, at the same time that Bill Clinton was in town. He shook the US president’s hand, and joined the Niddrie Labor branch the same year.
Carroll graduated university with an arts degree and worked in insurance, before the Bracks government came to power in Victoria in ۱۹۹۹. He worked for then-senator Stephen Conroy in cabinet before being preselected over Jaclyn Symes to stand in Niddrie in a ۲۰۱۲ byelection.
After entering state parliament, he held numerous portfolios including industry, roads, employment, youth justice and corrections, until Andrews’ resignation in ۲۰۲۳.
Under Allan’s cabinet reshuffle following her elevation, Carroll was given his choice of portfolio – as is tradition – but the new premier showed her mistrust by excluding him from the expenditure review committee, cabinet’s most senior decision-making body.
Carroll took on the education portfolio. During his tenure, Victoria had its best ever Naplan results, ranking first or second in ۱۸ of ۲۰ measures in ۲۰۲۵, with the highest number of students performing at “strong” or above.
He also oversaw the state’s introduction of mandatory phonics classes in schools, a method that is divisive among academics and the powerful Australian Education Union, but that some teachers claim has a remarkable effect on children’s reading.
But he’s also been at the helm for some serious errors, such as the discovery of mistakes in VCE maths and chemistry exams in ۲۰۲۳, and the ۲۰۲۴ “cheat sheet” bungle, when exam content for ۶۵ subjects was accidentally published and circulated widely weeks before students sat for the tests. A review into the incident led to Carroll sacking the entire board of the curriculum authority.
Most recently, he’s been overseeing protracted negotiations between the government and the state’s teachers, with AEU Vic members taking industrial action for the first time in ۱۳ years in March, and again just last week.
Carroll’s name has been associated with a possible leadership spill in the Labor party for months, with momentum building before parliament rose for a winter break in June. Poor polling and Allan’s weak personal approval ratings, rising support for One Nation and concerns about Allan’s response to organised crime infiltrating the state’s Big Build, via the construction union, all contributed.
At a press conference at that time, Carroll repeatedly dismissed suggestions he was positioning himself as a challenger, telling reporters: “I’ve got the job that I want.”
“We have a premier, and she’s working harder than anyone every day. I want to serve Jacinta Allan. I’ve got a young daughter at home, and I couldn’t be more proud to make sure she grows up knowing that I supported Jacinta Allan to be a world-class premier and get re-elected in her own right,” he said.
He would not be asking Allan to step aside the following day, he said, before turning to the premier and saying: “I can look her in the eye and say that.”
A spill did not eventuate at the party room meeting the next day. However, Carroll emerged from the meeting as he did in ۲۰۲۳, perhaps revealing a little more than he intended, declaring himself a “marathon runner” when asked if he had missed his chance to launch a challenge.
If he becomes premier, Carroll is understood to be in favour of calling for a royal commission into Big Build corruption allegations, also believing he’d be better able to resolve the pay dispute between the government and public school teachers, and improve the party’s economic credentials and standing with the business community.
