Bryan Green has said he is confident he will lead the Labor Party to the next state election, reminding the media that would-be leadership contender David O’Byrne lost his seat in 2014.
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On Saturday, Fairfax Tasmania reported that prominent union figures were calling for Labor MP Lara Giddings to resign so that Mr O’Byrne could usurp her seat of Franklin, which he held from 2010-2014.
Mr Green said he had spoken with Mr O’Byrne very recently.
“David will make, I’m sure, a great contribution to Tasmanian politics on into the future,” he said.
But Mr Green highlighted Mr O’Byrne’s failure to get re-elected in 2014, despite being the incumbent member for Franklin.
“Incumbency is always important in elections,” Mr Green said.
“But it didn’t work for him in the last election, did it?”
The rumours of leadership tensions within the Labor Party came as Western Australians went to the polls, voting to topple the state Liberal government – an administration infamous for its instability and infighting.
In considering Labor’s WA victory, Health Minister Michael Ferguson said “thoughts turn[ed] very rapidly” to the alleged tension between Mr Green and Mr O’Byrne.
“The key message I would take out of the Western Australian election is that the people want a stable and united government,” he said.
“And that’s exactly what [the] Tasmanian … Liberal government offers Tasmanians.”
Former WA Premier Colin Barnett fended off a leadership spill motion in 2016, which was moved because certain backbenchers were concerned the party was falling prey to a growing instability.
Psephologist Kevin Bonham said one of the principal factors in Labor’s WA ascent was the backlash against the federal Coalition.
“It’s going to be really tough if you’re a conservative government defending a state while there’s a conservative government in Canberra,” Mr Bonham said.
“Particularly one that’s decidedly on-the-nose at the moment.”
Mr Bonham said recent polling was not “crash-hot” for the Tasmanian Liberals.
“To get re-elected, they’d be wanting to swing a lot of undecided voters over by convincing them that it was better to continue with the Liberals rather than potentially having another minority government,” Mr Bonham said.