Carli was first elected in May 1994, to the then seat of
Coburg. He succeeded long-standing Labor MP
Tom Roper who had been the Victorian Treasurer and a senior Minister in the
Cain and
Kirner governments. He was first elected to the Labor frontbench in 1996. From October to December 1999 he was Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs, before moving to Infrastructure under the then state Minister for Transport,
Peter Batchelor. After the 2006 State Election he stepped down from the frontbench. On 3 June 2008 he announced his intention to retire from Parliament at the 2010 State Election. ==Personal life==