Speech TO TASMANIAN LABOR STATE CONFERENCE

HOBART

SUNDAY 19 APRIL 2026

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Thank you so much for that warm Tasmanian welcome.

It's so wonderful to be here with so many friends and comrades at a long overdue conference.

I want to acknowledge that we meeting today on the lands of the Palawa people, and to pay my respect to Elders past and present.

Of course, I’d also like to acknowledge the leader of the Tasmanian Parliamentary Labor Party – Josh Willie and his team, doing a fantastic job here in Tasmania.

I know that many of my federal colleagues are here today as well, it's so amazing to have such a huge contingent of first class parliamentary representatives from the great state of Tasmania in Canberra with us as part of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party.

All of you here today, trade unionists, rank and file members, community activists, true believers, it's wonderful to be here in the room with you.

One person that's missing of course is the beautiful Patti Warn who we lost recently, and I just want to take a moment to acknowledge her contribution as well.

She spent half a century fighting for better outcomes for working people, including as the first woman to serve as the secretary of the Tasmanian Labor Party.

Friends,

It’s wonderful to be here with you.

There’s something electric in the room about coming together like this, after seven long years –

To see people who care deeply about their communities, about fairness, talking boldly about a better future for Tasmanians. 

Because moments like this this conference aren’t just about reflecting on where we’ve been.

They’re about reconnecting on what brought us here.

Where we want to go next.

And our shared belief that politics can, and must, make people’s lives better.

Otherwise, what’s the point?

I know a thing or two about opposition.

So, it’s not lost on me how difficult this period is for people in this room.

But Labor, and particularly Tasmanian Labor, has never been defined by a single chapter.

For more than a century this party has been vital to the job of  holding this state together, and progress.

For 76 of the last 120 years, Tasmanians have chosen Labor to govern.

Not out of habit.

But because, time and again, Labor has stood for something real.

For fairness for working people, for better public services.

For making sure Tasmania is governed for the many, not the few.

That’s a legacy built over generations - in workplaces, in communities, in conversations around kitchen tables from Burnie to Bridgewater.

And it’s a legacy that doesn’t belong to the past.

It’s something we must carry forward, because now more than ever, we need to live up to our promise as the party of progress.

We need to build a future that people can believe in, that doesn’t lock anyone out or leave anyone behind, as the Prime Minister so often says.

Because across the country, we’re seeing a deliberate effort to rewrite what it means to be Australian.

To take values that belong to all of us: fairness, decency, a belief in giving everyone a go.

And twist them into something smaller.

More fearful.

More divided.

You can see it in the language that’s creeping back into our politics.

You can see it in the immigration debate.

In the mis and disinformation peddled about climate change.

In the kind of culture wars that One Nation and the Coalition are hellbent on inflaming.

Division and grievance aren’t just political tactics for them anymore; they are the basis of entire policy platforms.

Pitting people against each other.

Selling them easy answers to complex questions.

Turning vulnerable groups into common enemies.

None of this is new.

It’s the oldest political trick in the book: to exploit people while pretending to defend them.

To pick and choose who belongs and why.  

While undermining our citizenship pledge, the promise we’ve kept for generations that anyone who respects our democracy, our rights, our laws, our liberties can proudly call themselves Australian.  

And to wrap all of that up in the language of “values.”

But here’s the truth.

Australian values don’t belong to the loudest or angriest voices.

They can’t be bought or sold.

They belong to ordinary people who built them through selfless struggle.

They always have.

They belong to the workers who fought for the eight-hour day.

Not because it was easy, but because it was the right thing to do.

They belong to the women who fought for the right to vote, to stand for parliament, and for equal pay.

The best parts of this nation’s history are built on the back of our collective actions.

Our refusals to accept less, our ability to imagine more.

And that’s not just Australia’s story.

It’s Labor’s story.

It’s not a story based on abstract slogans, it’s a story based on solidarity, on shared commitments, on organising and on winning.

We didn’t arrive at gender parity in the Labor caucus, or achieve the lowest gender pay gap in our nation’s history by accident.

Just like we didn’t embed lifesaving, free public healthcare by chance.  

We haven’t stood up for the self-determination of First Nations Australians because it was easy, or championed multiculturalism because it was politically popular.

And we certainly aren’t tackling inequality –

By cutting taxes and increasing wages for everyday people, including almost 77,000 Tasmania workers – without a fight.

We haven't done this without a fight.

This is who we are, and it's what we stand for.

That’s why it’s crucial that Labor leaders speak up when Australian values are misrepresented.

When the politics of exclusion threaten the politics of equality.

When compassion and fairness are framed as weakness.

When opportunity is hoarded rather than extended.

Because when that style of politics takes hold, we don’t just lose power.

We actually go backwards as a nation.

And that’s something Tasmania understands deeply.

This is a state that is built on community.

On people looking out for each other, not because they have to, but because that is what you do.

It’s there in the towns, where everyone knows your name.

It's in the industries that have shaped this state: from forestry to fisheries.

From manufacturing to tourism.

It’s there in the pride that Tasmanians take in their work, their produce, their communities.

And it’s there in the understanding that no one gets ahead alone.

We know that Tasmania has faced its challenges.

Economic change.

Jobs lost, industries reshaped.

Communities asked to adapt, again and again.

And when people feel uncertain, or they feel left behind, that’s when the politics of division suddenly seems appealing.

That’s when change looks scary.

And when our differences are no longer celebrated as strength.

But everyone in this room knows the answer can never be to turn people against each other.

It has to be to invest in them.

To create secure jobs.

To keep improving healthcare, to make education more accessible – like the almost 10,000 free TAFE spots that Tasmanians have taken up.

And to let communities know we have their backs in hard times.

Labor Governments built these services, and it is up to us to continue growing them.

To keep investing in urgent care clinics, cheaper medicines.

Expanding childcare centres in places like Bruny Island and Westbury.

And building the infrastructure that powers local economies, such as the new Bridgewater Bridge or the big upgrades to roads like the Midland Highway.

It’s the job of Labor to ensure that everyone in this great state –  whether they're in Hobart, Launceston, Queenstown, or Devonport – can access all of the opportunities they deserve.

Because our strength lies in the politics of optimism, when we dare to think bigger.

And that’s the task ahead for Labor here in Tasmania.

To reconnect, not just with each other, but with the communities you serve.

To listen, to show up, to be present.

And to give Tasmanians something real to believe in, not the narrow vision of the current state government.

Not slogans. But plans grounded in our values, Labor values, backed by action.

Because people aren’t looking for perfection.

But they are absolutely looking for integrity.

And they need leaders who understand and will stand up for them – even when it’s hard.

When we get that right, when we are clear about what we want to achieve.

That’s when Labor is at its best.

So, as you gather here, with that long history behind you, and a real opportunity ahead,

This is your moment. To build, to connect, to show your vision for a better, fairer future.

To remind yourselves, and the people of Tasmania, just what Labor is capable of.

My message to you today is simple – that if we stay true to our values and we work hard for the communities we represent, the long history of Labor leadership in Tasmania isn’t behind you.

It’s just around the corner.

Thank you.

ENDS