Who is Tammy Tyrrell, the former Jacqui Lambie senator who just defected to Labor?

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Addition of Tasmanian crossbencher means Labor has gained a seat in the Senate – but still doesn’t have a majority

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Former Jacqui Lambie ally Tammy Tyrrell has defected to the Labor party, becoming the latest party-hopping senator to be lured by Anthony Albanese’s government.

Tyrrell, the Tasmanian senator who had a falling-out with Lambie in 2024, has sat as an independent for more than two years. But on Thursday, in an unexpected move during budget week, the prime minister announced she would be admitted to the Labor party and would serve out the rest of her term as a government member.

“I want to have a seat at the table where I can make some change,” Tyrrell said of her decision.

“I’m not going to apologise to anybody for joining Labor. It’s a good fit. I’ve supported Labor very regularly over the last four years. But I’ve also pushed back when things are important, and I will still do that but respectfully and calmly through caucus.

“I’m very proud to be a Labor girl.”

Tyrrell downplayed her previous opposition to Labor’s signature policy to ban social media for children. In 2024, Tyrrell claimed the idea “isn’t worth the paper it’s written on” and criticised it as “poorly thought-out”.

Asked about her stance on Thursday, she conceded she had not agreed with the social media ban in the past but that she considered her party move “a fresh start”.

“The social media ban is one of those things I believe that children should have an education, so that they are safer, be it driving a car, learning to swim. There are times when I have not agreed in the past but this is a fresh start.”

Tyrrell’s move sees the Labor government increase its numbers in the Senate, from 29 to 30, but it still remains short of an overall majority. Albanese will still require support of the Greens, Coalition or crossbench to pass its legislation, in order to reach a Senate majority.

Tyrrell’s move to Labor also does make slightly easier a very unlikely path where the government passes legislation by securing the support of the entire Senate crossbench. It would be a diverse coalition including David Pocock, Ralph Babet, Lambie, former Labor senator Fatima Payman, Lidia Thorpe, and four members of One Nation.

At a press conference with Tyrrell to announce her defection, Albanese praised her as “warm, genuinely funny and compassionate”.

“She’s been an advocate about cost of living pressures facing Tasmanians and she’s someone who has spent her life helping others. People across Tasmania know her as a fighter,” he said.

“She stands up for people and now she will bring that advocacy into the Labor party as a member of the Labor caucus and will be able to sit and participate as a member of the government to be more effective in getting things done.”

Tyrrell did not directly answer a question about whether she first approached Labor about switching, or whether the government approached her, but said she had had conversations with Labor senators for some time and felt “now is the time to change”.

She said she hoped to run for re-election under Labor’s banner at the next election.

Tyrrell joined Lambie’s party initially as a staffer but won the Senate seat held by former Liberal Eric Abetz in 2022. She cited Lambie’s dissatisfaction with her as the reason for her 2024 resignation from the party, sitting as an independent since.

She is the second senator to join Labor this term, after former Greens senator Dorinda Cox announced her move in June 2025, shortly after the federal election.

Labor now has four senators in Tasmania, with Tyrrell and colleagues Helen Polley and Josh Dolega up for re-election in 2028.

Polley came under scrutiny last month after posting – then deleting – a social media video that mistakenly included audio of an explicit rap song over a carousel of photos of Anzac Day commemorations.

• Tasmania
• Australian politics
• Labor party
• Anthony Albanese
• Jacqui Lambie
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