Labors newest MP takes his seat in parliament after being elected on a recount

‘It’s been quite a whirlwind’: Barely 12 hours after being declared elected, Labor’s newest MP has taken his seat in state parliament as a member for Lyons.

Labor leader Dean Winter with new Labor MP Casey Farrell, at a media conference at Parliament House on Wednesday, May 5, 2025.

Barely 12 hours after being declared elected, Labor’s newest MP has taken his seat in state parliament as a member for Lyons.

Casey Farrell emerged victorious from a tight four-way tussle between Labor candidates in a recount caused by the resignation of MP Rebecca White.

The son of Legislative Council president Craig Farrell was declared elected by the Tasmanian Electoral Commission around 7.30 on Tuesday night and sworn in on the floor of the House of Assembly at 10am Wednesday morning.

He said it had been a sudden elevation.

“It’s been quite a whirlwind. Obviously, the results of the count didn’t come through until late yesterday evening and here I am this morning, hitting the ground running,” he told reporters.

“The priorities for me at the moment to get my feet under the desk, understand how everything operates in here and getting a really good understanding for who’s who, for what’s going on.”

Mr Farrell said it was good to be working alongside his father in the Labor team, but he had his own views of the world.

“He’s very well respected within the parliament, and I think that’s a really great footing for me to come in on,” he said.

“But I think that the truth of the matter is that I probably agree with my dad as much as anyone agrees with their own parents and so it doesn’t mean that there’s not diversity of thought there.”

The last father and son to sit in state parliament at the same time were Liberals Michael and Will Hodgman between 2002 and 2010.

Labor leader Dean Winter welcomed Mr Farrell to the Labor team.

“This is great day for the Labor Party,” he said, “any organisation, whether you’re in politics, in sport, in business, needs to renew and bring in new faces and a new team.

“For us, that person is Casey Farrell. I’ve known Casey for more than ten years now. Casey and I worked together when I was at Tas ICT and Casey was at Startup Tasmania.

“And here we are ten years later, working together again and hopefully working on focusing on some really great policies that can help make Tasmania a better place.”

Originally published as Labors newest MP takes his seat in parliament after being elected on a recount