Union organiser Josh Dolega the front runner to replace Anne Urquhart in the Senate

Australia Broadcast Center

21-05-2025

A union organiser and fitness instructor is the frontrunner to be selected as a new Tasmanian Labor senator at a meeting of the party's national executive on Friday.
Labor sources say Community and Public Sector Union work health and safety lead organiser Josh Dolega has the backing of the Australian Manufacturing Worker's Union (AMWU) to fill the casual vacancy left by former senator Anne Urquhart, who is now the MP for the north-west Tasmanian seat of Braddon.
Ms Urquhart, a former AMWU official, is also understood to back Mr Dolega winning the vacancy.
Who Ms Urquhart nominates is seen as particularly important by the national executive after she quit her position in the Senate following a request from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to contest Braddon.
She achieved a whopping 15.3 per cent swing in the federal government's landslide victory.
It means Mr Dolega is tipped by a number of party sources as the candidate to beat, in a field including Unions Tasmania secretary Jessica Munday and Meander Valley Councillor Ben Dudman, backed by the United Workers Union.
Former state secretary Stuart Benson was also raised as a potential candidate to join the Senate, but it's not clear if he officially nominated for the position, which will go to a member of the party's Left faction.
If endorsed by the national executive, Mr Dolega will be a senator until the next federal election in 2028.
The winner will receive a guaranteed salary of just over $700,000, given senators earn a base annual salary of $233,660.
Mr Dolega is understood to have told the party he was happy to relocate from Hobart to the north-west coast, where Ms Urquhart had been based while a senator.
He worked as a tax officer for the Australian Tax Office based in Burnie for more than a decade, and worked as a group fitness instructor at the Devonport aquatic centre.
He does not have a high profile social media presence, but in a submission to a review of local government in Tasmania, said that the state's 29 councils should be reduced to three, one each in Devonport, Launceston and Hobart.
Mr Dolega was contacted for comment.
A member of Labor's left-faction, who had been lobbying for Ms Munday to be awarded the casual vacancy, speaking to the ABC on the condition of anonymity, said they were disappointed she was set to be overlooked.
"We have a candidate here with deep expertise in policy, governance and leadership.
"These decisions need to be based on merit but this doesn't seem to be happening."
The new senator's selection will be made official next Tuesday, when it's confirmed by the Tasmanian parliament.
Labor sources say Ms Munday's unwillingness to move to the north-west has been cited as the reason for overlooking her.
But her supporters argue senators do not need to live in the same location their office is based in, and point to examples in other states where a majority of senators are based out of capital cities.
Labor senator Helen Polley is based in Launceston, while Richard Dowling and Carol Brown are both based out of the state's south.
The Tasmanian Labor Party was placed into administration in mid-2022 following a period of internal infighting.
The administration was ended last year, but a new state administrative committee has not yet been appointed.
It was stated a committee of six party members would remain in charge of internal decisions until that happened, but party sources say the party has effectively remained in administration, with all pre-selection decisions, including the casual senate vacancy, made by the national executive.
Ms Urquhart and Ms Munday were contacted for comment.