John Carey was elected to parliament in 2017
On this day in 2017 the McGowan government was elected for their first term and the Member for Perth John Carey joined the parliamentary ranks.
Carey had first come to prominence as the founder of the Beaufort Street Collective, the business group that created the hugely popular street festival that drew massive crowds to the inner-city suburb of Mount Lawley.
He later served as a councilor at the City of Vincent before being elected to the position of Mayor in 2013. During his time on the council he established a register that allowed same-sex couples to record their relationship status in lieu of the federal government allowing same-sex marriage.
After he was elected to parliament Carey hosted the Perth City Summit, which over 350 residents, business operators and property owners attended. The purpose was to discuss and develop projects and plans to improve Perth. Among the summit’s recommendations are for a new university campus to be created in the Perth central business district, for new cycling infrastructure to be constructed and to remove alfresco fees for businesses.
After serving as a parliamentary secretary during the McGowan government’s first term in government, in 2021 after being re-elected for a second term Carey was promoted to being the Minister for Local Government, Housing, Homelessness and Lands.
During his political career Carey has been a passionate advocate for the homeless and now as the responsible minister he’s in the driving seat for making real change to the longstanding challenge.
John Barrowman celebrates a birthday
British-American actor John Barrowman is also celebrating his birthday today. He was born in 1967. Before making his mark as the pansexual time traveller Captain Jack Sparrow in Doctor Who and spin off series Torchwood, Barrowman was best known for his work in musical theatre.
He started his West End career in the late 1980’s appearing in Anything Goes alongside Elaine Paige and Bernard Cribbins. He went on to appear in Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon, Sunset Boulevard and Company.
Barrowman’s TV career began with the short-lived US drama Central Park West which he appeared in alongside Mariel Hemingway, Mädchen Amick, Lauren Hutton and Raquel Welch.
One TV role he missed out on was playing Will Truman in Will and Grace. Producers apparently though Barrowman came across and being too straight and decided to cast Eric McCormick instead.
Barrowman’s best known role though is as Captain Jack. He first played the time travelling detective in 2005 and has reprised the role in subsequent series. In 2021 it was revealed that Barrowman used to “flash” his colleagues on set as a joke, something he later apologised for saying it “tomfoolery”.
Speaking on the ITV chat show Lorraine following the revelations Barrowman said he would never behave in such a way today.
“I think that if it was now it would be crossing the line. I think that something that happened 15 years ago – it was bawdy behaviour, silly behaviour.
“It was being done in the confines of the set and we were like a family working together. The fact that it was stories that I’ve already told, I’ve been telling them for years. I haven’t hidden anything.
“They have been exaggerated and they have tried to turn them into sexual harassment, which it absolutely is not.” Barrowman said.
Since the accusations were made Barrowman’s career has come to a grinding halt.
OIP Staff, This post was originally published in 2020, and has subsequently been updated.
