00:01Tammy Terrell joined Parliament in 2022 as a member of the Jackie Lambie Network.
00:07She's a Tasmanian Senator, but it was in 2024 that she jumped ship and became an independent
00:12because Jackie Lambie and her didn't quite see eye to eye.
00:16Now, her term in Parliament is due to expire in 2028 and confirmation today she is keen
00:23to run for Labor at that election, which will make it a pretty interesting one to watch
00:29in terms of which Labor Senators will be up and having their hand up to take those positions
00:35in Tasmania.
00:36What this means at the moment for the Government in the Senate, it needs the support of the
00:41Greens or the Coalition to get legislation passed.
00:44So even with the Prime Minister recruiting Tammy Terrell today, they will still need the support
00:49of one of those two parties that I just mentioned.
00:52So it's not a significant change with numbers for the Government, but it is a win for the
00:57Prime Minister.
00:57It's the second recruit he's had in recent years.
01:00Last year, Green Senator Dorinda Cox jumped ship and moved to Labor as well.
01:07Now, the timing around this is a little bit cheeky.
01:09Today, the focus is on the Budget Reply speech from Opposition Leader Angus Taylor, and this
01:15announcement comes less than a week after the Coalition lost the seat of Farrah.
01:20That was Coalition Heartland.
01:23But on the weekend, we saw that seat that was vacated by former Opposition Leader Susan Lee.
01:29It is now gone to One Nation.
01:32Now, the question, of course, today was asked of Tammy Terrell, you know, is it right to move political parties
01:38when you go to an election claiming you're an independent, but then to change your mind on a following day?
01:44If you look at her social media at the moment, too, she still backs certain policies that the Labor Government
01:51isn't running with at this stage.
01:53But she very much defended her decision in this press conference earlier today.
01:58The people of Tasmania need strong voices who are not afraid to admit when things need to be changed.
02:04They need to have people in the Parliament that are willing to modify, change, cooperate and collaborate.
02:11And that's what I've done in the last four years.
02:14In my very first maiden speech, I said that I'm not going to be judged by the media for flip
02:19-flopping in your terms.
02:20The information in front of you on every single day in this place changes.
02:24And the country, Tasmania, the Parliament, has changed in my four years here as a Senator.
02:30And I know that Tasmanians understand that change is important.
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