{"id":793706,"date":"2026-07-11T14:39:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T14:39:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/793706\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T14:39:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T14:39:22","slug":"ella-haddad-denies-seeking-tasmanian-labor-leadership-amid-internal-dissent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/793706\/","title":{"rendered":"Ella Haddad denies seeking Tasmanian Labor leadership amid \u2018internal dissent\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Josh Willie has challenged Labor colleagues reportedly plotting against him to say who they are, saying he is confident he has the support to remain leader.<\/p>\n

The Tasmanian opposition leader fronted the media on Saturday alongside frontbencher Ella Haddad, days after a DemosAU poll put Labor at a record-low 21%, level with One Nation.<\/p>\n

The poll came amid reports Labor colleagues were unhappy with Willie\u2019s performance and were canvassing Haddad and Shane Broad as possible replacements.<\/p>\n

One nameless figure was quoted dismissing Willie as \u2018a Temu Dean Winter\u2019, while another said he was \u2018on borrowed time\u2019.<\/p>\n

Willie said he would not be cowed by the anonymous critics.<\/p>\n

\"\"Opposition leader Josh Willie challenged his anonymous critics. Image \/ Pulse (File)<\/p>\n

\u201cI challenge anybody who\u2019s putting forward these comments to put their name to it and see how it goes for them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said he had the backing of the caucus, the party\u2019s rank and file and the union movement.<\/p>\n

Willie argued the poll reflected broader political forces also being seen on the mainland.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat it shows is that the major parties collectively have a job to do to convince Tasmanians that we have the answers to improve their lives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He conceded being level with One Nation was concerning.<\/p>\n

\"\"A DemosAU poll put Tasmanian Labor at a record-low 21%, level with One Nation. Image \/ Pulse (File)<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course it worries me. We need to make sure that Tasmanians understand that right-wing populism isn\u2019t going to improve their lives,\u201d Willie said.<\/p>\n

The poll, conducted between June 21 and July 6, also delivered a poor result for the state government.<\/p>\n

The Liberals fell to 28%, down almost 12 percentage points since last year\u2019s election. One Nation recorded 21% in its first inclusion in the poll.<\/p>\n

Willie said the state government was escaping proper scrutiny while the focus remained on Labor.<\/p>\n

\"\"Opposition leader Josh Willie challenged his anonymous critics. Image \/ Pulse (File)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a good poll for the Liberal Party and they have been let off because of this debate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt hasn\u2019t been a good poll for any established party.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said Jeremy Rockliff\u2019s government was \u201cpast its use-by date\u201d after 13 years in power.<\/p>\n

Asked several times whether his support for greyhound racing had hurt him, Willie would not engage. <\/p>\n

\"\"Opposition leader Josh Willie challenged his anonymous critics. Image \/ Pulse (File)<\/p>\n

Instead, he listed jobs, housing, health and the cost of living as the main concerns raised by voters.<\/p>\n

The poll found housing and homelessness (25%) and the cost of living (24%) were the biggest issues for voters. Education was nominated by 2%.<\/p>\n

Willie said Labor was already putting forward policies, including five-day kindergarten and universal access to three-year-old preschool.<\/p>\n

\"\"Labor MP Ella Haddad denied she was counting numbers for a leadership challenge. Image \/ Pulse (File)<\/p>\n

Haddad, who had been floated as a possible successor, was adamant she was not chasing the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely not,\u201d she said when asked if she was counting numbers.<\/p>\n

Haddad said she was angry to have been dragged into the speculation.<\/p>\n

\u201cStories like this are not only untrue, but they\u2019re incredibly unhelpful,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I\u2019m here today actually feeling really angry that my name has been brought into this when Josh has clear support not only from our caucus, but from the rank and file of the Labor Party, from the wider community, from the union movement and across Tasmania.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Labor MP Ella Haddad denied she was counting numbers for a leadership challenge. Image \/ Pulse (File)<\/p>\n

Asked multiple times whether she wanted the leadership, now or in the future, Haddad said no each time.<\/p>\n

Haddad nominated to lead the party\u2019s left faction after last year\u2019s election and said she was happy with the result of the vote, which Willie won.<\/p>\n

Acting Premier Bridget Archer said Labor\u2019s leadership was a matter for Labor, but voters were tired of the infighting.<\/p>\n

\"\"Acting Premier Bridget Archer said voters were tired of political infighting. Image \/ Pulse (File)<\/p>\n

\u201cTasmanians are pretty sick of politicians talking about themselves,\u201d Archer said.<\/p>\n

She said the government would not be distracted \u201cby polls that will come and go\u201d.<\/p>\n

The next state election is not due until 2029. Willie said there were \u201cno shortcuts to government\u201d and rebuilding trust would take time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Josh Willie has challenged Labor colleagues reportedly plotting against him to say who they are, saying he is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":793707,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-793706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=793706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/793707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=793706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=793706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=793706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}