Prime Minister Anthony Albanese takes pre-election blitz to Tasmania in fight for three seats

The Prime Minister is taking his pre-election blitz to Tasmania, where Labor is making a play to flip to critical seats and retain a third.

Anthony Albanese and three senior ministers will visit in Tasmania on Wednesday, where Labor is attempting to prise two key seats from the Coalition.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke and Infrastructure Minister Catherine King will accompany the Prime Minister on the trip.

Labor is trying to flip the seats of Bass, currently held by rebel Liberal MP Bridget Archer, and Braddon, where Tasmanian senator Anne Urquhart will contest the seat midway through her eight-year senate term.

Senator Urquhart will make a risky play for the lower house seat, despite retiring incumbent Gavin Pearce winning the 2022 election with an increased 4.9 per cent swing.

Anthony Albanese with Tasmanian Labor senator and Braddon candidate Anne Urquhart. Picture: Pool/ NewsWire

Ex Tasmanian opposition leader Rebecca White will make a tilt for the seat of Lyons. Picture: NewsWire/ Nikki Davis Jones.

In Lyons, which takes in the state’s west coast and central regions, Labor is hoping former Tasmanian opposition leader Rebecca White will retain the seat following the departure of sitting Labor MP Brian Mitchell.

Ahead of the trip, the government has released data on the number of households and business which stand to benefit from Labor’s $3bn cash injection to upgrade remaining NBN connections from outdate copper connections.

On Wednesday, Mr Albanese will say a total of 21,085 homes will be able to connect to the faster fibre connections and access speeds of up to 1 gigabyte a second.

Mr Albanese will continue his election blitz in Tasmania, alongside Finance Minister Katy Gallagher, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke and Infrastructure Minister Catherine King. Picture: NewsWire/ Martin Ollman

He also flagged further announcements in the infrastructure space about social housing, upgrading essential infrastructure and boosting community facilities and services.

“Peter Dutton and the Opposition won’t stand up for the interest of Tasmanians,” he said.

“They’re against our cost of living relief, they don’t believe in life-changing investment into education or health and they oppose our groundbreaking plan to upgrade the NBN.

“My government cares about Tasmanians. That’s why we are delivering on cost of living relief, investing in housing and infrastructure, child care and healthcare for Tasmania.”

However the Coalition have said they will not oppose Labor’s $3bn boost to the NBN, despite criticism from the Opposition Leader that upgrades should have been made sooner.