Carey to run health portfolio through Christmas peak as Hammat steps aside

John Carey will take charge of Western Australia’s health portfolio for 23 days over the Christmas and New Year period, after the Governor approved him to act in the office while Meredith Hammat is absent. The arrangement, published as notice PR401 in the Western Australian Government Gazette No. 133 of 20 October 2026, covers the period 26 December 2026 to 17 January 2027, both dates inclusive. The approval was made under section 12(c) of the Interpretation Act 1984 and notified for public information by the Department of the Premier and Cabinet.

The terms of the appointment

The notice appears under the Premier and Cabinet heading of the gazette, on page 2373, and states that the Governor “has approved the following temporary appointment”. It names J. N. Carey MLA as acting in the office of Minister for Health; Mental Health; Preventative Health, and identifies the absence of M. J. Hammat MLA as the reason.

• Acting minister: Hon J. N. Carey MLA
• Portfolio: Minister for Health; Mental Health; Preventative Health
• Absent minister: Hon M. J. Hammat MLA
• Period: 26 December 2026 to 17 January 2027, both dates inclusive
• Duration: 23 days
• Legal basis: section 12(c), Interpretation Act 1984
• Notified by: M. Carey, Director General, Department of the Premier and Cabinet

The notice carries no conditions, limitations or carve-outs, and does not state where the absent minister will be or why she is away.

A minister already carrying several portfolios

John Newton Carey is the member whose name appears elsewhere in the same edition as Minister for Lands, signing two instruments under the Land Administration Act 1997 — one revoking a 2006 delegation in favour of the minister administering the Water Services Licencing Act 1995, the other delegating powers under Divisions 2 to 6 of Part 9 and Part 10 of the Act to the minister administering the Water Services Act 2012.

The health appointment therefore adds a fourth substantial field of responsibility to a minister who, in the same gazette, is exercising planning and lands functions. The gazette gives no indication that any of those existing duties will be delegated during the 23-day period.

Cover already arranged for the spring sitting period

The Christmas arrangement is the second time the health portfolio has been placed in other hands this spring. Notice published in the Western Australian Government Gazette No. 122 of 25 September 2026 recorded that A. Sanderson MLA would act in the same three offices — Health; Mental Health; Preventative Health — in M. J. Hammat’s absence from 23 October to 8 November 2026, both dates inclusive.

That earlier notice was made under the same provision, section 12(c) of the Interpretation Act 1984, and was signed by the same officer, M. Carey, Director General of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet. The 20 October notice does not refer to the September arrangement and does not state that it supersedes or varies it, leaving the two periods as separate and non-overlapping.

The gazette is published by the Government Printer for the State of Western Australia on Tuesday and Friday of each week unless disrupted by public holidays or unforeseen circumstances, and this edition carries the online ISSN 2204-4264.

Why it matters

The 23-day window takes in Christmas Day’s aftermath, New Year’s Eve and the first fortnight of January — the period when emergency departments, elective surgery schedules and hospital staffing are under their heaviest seasonal strain. For readers in Western Australia, it means the minister answerable for the state’s public hospitals, mental health services and preventative health programs across that peak will be John Carey, not the minister who normally holds the portfolio, and the change takes effect from Boxing Day.

Source: Western Australian Government Gazette, No. 133, 20 October 2026, Premier and Cabinet, p. 2373 (official reference: PR401).