ALP must examine Tasmania ‘challenges’: Labor national secretary

In his first public comments since election night, ALP national secretary Paul Erickson has said the party must ‘thoroughly examine’ the challenges it faces in Tasmania.

Labor’s national secretary has conceded there are challenges facing the party in Tasmania that will need to be addressed if the Albanese government is to consolidate its power.

In an address to the National Press Club on Wednesday, Paul Erickson said the ALP had won the election because “we talked about the future and we offered the country an alternative to more of the same”.

“Labor offered Australians the chance to elect a Prime Minister who would show up, who would take responsibility and would work with people to solve problems – an opportunity that Australians took,” he said.

ALP National Secretary Paul Erickson.

But Mr Erickson noted that there was a message in the election result for both major parties.

Nine so-called teal independents were elected to the House of Representatives, having campaigned on climate action and a national integrity commission. The Greens also dramatically increased their numbers in the lower house, picking up four seats in total.

“Our primary vote remains in the low 30s and it needs to grow,” Mr Erickson said.

“Queensland was one of only two states where the Labor primary increased but we didn’t gain any seats and we lost Griffith to the Greens.

“And there are challenges for Labor in Tasmania that the party needs to thoroughly examine.”

Tasmanian Labor MPs Julie Collins and Brian Mitchell retained their seats, but the party went backwards in the marginal seats of Bass (-6.1 per cent swing) and Braddon (-9.6 per cent swing).

Tasmania was the only state in which the Liberal Party recorded a swing towards it (+2.46 per cent). Labor, meanwhile, suffered a 6.25 per cent statewide swing against it.

Follow @rg_inglis