Paul Caica (born 1957) is an Australian politician, representing the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party. He represented the

South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly (also known as the lower house) is one of two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia, the other being the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. Overview The House of Assem ...

seat of Colton from the 2002 election until his retirement in 2018. He served in the state ministry from 2006 to 2013 under both

Mike Rann Michael David Rann (born 5 January 1953) is an Australian former politician who was the 44th premier of South Australia from 2002 to 2011. He was later Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2013 to 2014, and List of Australi ...

and Jay Weatherill.

Early life

Caica attended Henley Primary and

High Schools A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

before graduating from

Adelaide University Adelaide University is a planned public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 2024, it will combine the University of Adelaide, the third-oldest university in Australia, and the University of ...

with a Bachelor of Arts in 1985. He was a firefighter for almost 20 years before holding the full-time position of secretary of the South Australian United Firefighters Union between 1991 and 1997 and the National Secretary of the United Firefighters Union from 1998 to 2002 where he represented firefighters on a national basis.

Parliament

Caica was elected as the member for the

bellwether A bellwether is a leader or an indicator of trends.bellwether
" ''Cambridge Dictionary''. Re ...

seat of Colton at the 2002 election. He is from the

Labor Left The Labor Left (LL), also known as the Progressive Left, Socialist Left or simply the Left, is one of the two major political factions within the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It is nationally characterised by social progressivism and democra ...

faction. Despite the decades-long bellwether history of Colton, the 2016 electoral redistribution saw Colton redrawn from a 1.5 percent marginal Labor seat to a notional 3.7 percent marginal Liberal seat.Final Report (PDF): Electoral Districts Boundaries Commission 8 December 2016
/ref> Caica announced in February 2017 that he would be retiring from parliament as of the 2018 election.Paul Caica to retire: ABC 8 February 2017
/ref>

Cabinet

He served in the following portfolios in Cabinet: * Minister for Gambling (2006–2008) * Minister for Employment, Training and Further Education (2006–2009) * Minister for Youth (2006–2009) * Minister for Science and Information Technology (2007–2009) * Minister for Volunteers (2008–2009) * Minister for Industrial Relations (2008–2010) * Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries (2009–2010) * Minister for Forests (2009–2010) * Minister for Regional Development (2009–2010) * Minister for Environment and Conservation (2010–2011) * Minister for the River Murray (2010–2011) * Minister for Water (2010–2011) * Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation (2011–2013) * Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation (2011–2013) * Minister for Water and the River Murray (2011–2013)

Sport

At the 2007 World Police and Fire Games in Adelaide, Caica won two gold medals for Angling.

Family

Caica is married with two sons.

References

External links

*
Parliamentary Profile: SA Labor website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caica, Paul Members of the South Australian House of Assembly 1957 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of South Australia Labor Left politicians 21st-century Australian politicians