Tasmania’s new Labor leader Josh Willie is from the party’s prominent Left faction. Photo: Josh Willie MP, Facebook.
The saga of Tasmania’s election may have just reached its final milestone as Josh Willie takes leadership of the Labor Party in Tasmania.
Tasmanians went to their third election since 2021 after former Labor leader Dean Winter triggered a no-confidence motion against Premier Jeremy Rockliff.
The motion received the support of the crossbench and kicked off the election.
Winter’s no-confidence motion was moved largely due to budgetary concerns, as the Tasmanian Government takes on more and more debt.
However, the election delivered nearly identical results to the previous election, with Premier Rockliff reappointed with the same number of seats. Labor suffered a reduced primary vote, but held onto the same number of seats.
After the election, Mr Winter failed to form government with the crossbench.
As promised, he moved another no-confidence motion against the newly reappointed Premier after the election.
Unlike the last motion, crossbenchers refused to support it, avoiding what would have been the fourth election in as many years.
Following the election, a leadership spill was triggered automatically and the Left faction member Josh Willie emerged victorious.
“Tasmanian Labor has a proud history and I look forward to giving this role everything I’ve got to return Labor to government,” the newly minted leader said.
Mr Winter chose not to recontest the leadership.
“While the election result didn’t go the way I wanted, I will forever be proud that Labor stopped the disastrous 2025-26 Barnett Budget from ever passing Parliament, and that the Rockliff privatisation agenda is now dead,” Mr Winter said.
Mr Willie now has the task of reconvening Tasmania’s Labor Party, which has suffered a humiliating defeat with its no-confidence motion against the Rockliff Government.
