Victoria’s new deputy premier was ‘always very keen to rise’

Ben Carroll’s first job was as a self-described checkout chick at Kmart Airport West in Melbourne’s northwest.

“I was always very keen to rise,” Carroll told journalists shortly after the Labor caucus backed him as Victoria’s new deputy premier following anhours-long gathering that saw him threaten to challengeJacinta Allan for premier.

Ben Carroll during the 2012 Niddrie byelection alongside then opposition leader Daniel Andrews.Pat Scala

“I’ve had 14 portfolios over six years across corrections,youth justice,[public] transport,industry and innovation,manufacturing,” Carroll said on Wednesday,a day after Daniel Andrewsannounced he would stand down as premier. “I’m always looking to see how I can increase my contributions to this outstanding Labor government.”

Carroll was elected to parliament in a 2012 byelection to the seat of Niddrie sparked by the resignation of then deputy Labor leader Rob Hulls. He entered the ministry in 2017 during the first term of the Andrews government.

In his maiden speech,Carroll described himself as a teenage “checkout chick” at the Airport West Kmart where he was first exposed to the Shop,Distributive and Allied Employees Association,colloquially known as the Shoppies union.

He joined the local Labor Party branch in his early 20s as a law student at La Trobe University and is part of the Right faction,aligned to former senator Stephen Conroy – to whom he was once an adviser.

Carroll at Labor’s caucus meeting on Wednesday.Jason South

Carroll,48,marched into the Labor partyroom meeting on Wednesday with MPs from the Right faction in tow to threaten to challenge Allan – from the Socialist Left – for leader,which would have drawn out the process of replacing Andrews for weeks and forced party members to a ballot.

Some had questioned his willingness to launch a challenge. In 2022,Carroll was caught off guard whenAllan was named Andrews’ deputy before he could marshall support to take the role,creating tensions within his own faction and a perception he lacked the ruthlessness needed to ascend.

In the end,Carroll did not formally put his hand up. After24 hours of factional brawling the matter was settled during a meeting on Wednesday that led to Allan being elected unopposed as premier,with Carroll as her deputy.

“I can’t wait to roll up the sleeves and get on and support the new leadership team,” Carroll said after being elected by the party room.

Jacinta Allan has been selected to be the next Victorian premier.

“I’m also the son of an SEC[State Electricity Commission] worker,born and raised under the flight path of Melbourne Airport in Airport West,first job was at the local Kmart store.

“And to think,to be deputy premier,and to be serving alongside Jacinta,and our wonderful,diverse,and strong and energetic cabinet,is something really,really special.”

Asked on Wednesday for insights into Victoria’s new deputy premier,Labor figures struggled to say a bad word about him. He’s known as “a sensible guy” with “his head on straight”.

Jacinta Allan is Victoria’s new premier.

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Former premier Steve Bracks remembers Carroll,working as an adviser in his private office in the early 2000s,as someone on the rise who has been building his career since he contested and won the 2012 byelection.

“He was a very smart,active,engaged person who looked like he was going somewhere,” Bracks toldThe Age on Wednesday. “I guess what stands out is the earnestness of him.”

Carroll lives in his electorate with wife Fiona,a lawyer,and their daughter Madeline.

In a campaign video pitching to Niddrie voters to re-elect him in November last year,Carroll said his parents taught him the importance of looking out for the less fortunate.

“I like to think that I’m a diplomat,but there does come a point where you have to be very firm that this needs to happen,” he said.

Carroll with Andrews in March at Southern Cross Station.Justin McManus

He nominated the announcement of a train station for Airport West – under the now in-doubt Airport Rail – as “a classic example” of that.

Carroll holds the public transport portfolio,which has been tainted by the slow pace of overhauling theMyki ticketing system. He also holds the employment,manufacturing sovereignty,and industry and innovation portfolios – likely to change in a cabinet reshuffle in the coming weeks.