Tasmania Labor have announced that union organiser Josh Dolega will be the state’s newest federal senator.
Dolega will fill a casual vacancy replacing Senator Anne Urquhart. Urquart has made the switch from the Senate to the House of Representatives after successfully being elected to the seat of Braddon at the 2025 federal election.
Dolega will serve the remainder of Urquhart’s term which is due to expire in 2028. The former fitness instructor turned union organiser will also be the second gay senator from Tasmania, following former Greens leader Bob Brown.
It is understood that Dolega will relocate from Hobart to the state’s northwest coast where Urquhart had been based.
The senator-elect is a member of Labor’s left faction and most recently been the lead health and safety organiser at the Community and Public Sector Union.
