Tanya Plibersek denies 2021 Labor leadership move in new book

Tanya Plibersek has denied sounding out support for a leadership challenge after Anthony Albanese took over as head of the Labor Party ahead of the 2022 election. 

In a new biography that hits shelves on Tuesday, the environment and water minister reveals that her decision to not seek the party leadership after Bill Shorten’s 2019 election defeat was largely informed by the fact her daughter was due to give evidence in a trial against her abusive ex-boyfriend. 

In the years since then, as author Margaret Simons writes in the new book, Tanya Plibersek: On Her Own Terms, there have been periodic rumours Plibersek has eyed the top job. 

“When I was researching this book, I was told by two sources that in early 2021, she had been taking soundings about her support … [not] doing the numbers in a systemic way. Rather, in the atmosphere of an expected challenge to Albanese, probably to be brought on by either [Chris] Bowen or [Jim] Chalmers, she was assessing whether she would be a competitive contender,” Simons writes. 

Plibersek responded in an interview for the book that she had “never been involved in leadership destabilisation” in her time in Parliament.

The Sydney MP was quoted as saying the term “sounding out support” was “fuzzy” and that she wasn’t going to comment on “rumours from unnamed sources”. 

“She would not be drawn further on her actions in early 2021, other than to deny she had sounded out support,” Simons writes. 

However, Plibersek acknowledged several colleagues had rung her to urge her to contest the leadership after Labor’s 2019 election loss. 

On the Sunday after the election, Plibersek told ABC’s Insiders program she was considering running for leader — but by the following morning, she had ruled herself out. 

Simons reveals in her book that while several factors weighed in, Plibersek made up her mind about not running for leader because she wanted to be able to be there for her daughter while she was testifying against her ex in court. 

Plibersek’s daughter Anna Coutts-Trotter revealed in an interview with Simons she had been abused by her partner as a teenager, in the form of “violence and controlling behaviour (that) gradually got worse, escalating to serious sexual assault”. 

The book says the man was eventually convicted of assault. 

“I experienced pretty much every kind of abuse you can think of. It was emotional, it was physical,” Coutts-Trotter says in the book.

“It was even financial, as much as you can be financially abused as a teenager. He tried to stop me talking to my friends. I lost so many friends … I was so manipulated. I wasn’t myself. I lost myself.”

At the time, Plibersek said publicly she wouldn’t be able to “reconcile the important responsibilities I have to my family with the additional responsibilities of the Labor leadership”.

But outside of a tight circle of family and coworkers, few people knew what those words actually meant. 

“The thought of not being able to be there for her through that was just too much,” Plibersek said. 

Both she and her husband, NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet Secretary Michael Coutts-Trotter, gave evidence in court, according to Simons. 

Plibersek tells Simon that hearing her daughter’s victim impact statement in court was “the hardest hour I’ve experienced as a parent”.

“But I was so proud of her too,” Plibersek said.

Opposition spokeswoman for women Sussan Ley praised Anna Coutts-Trotter after excerpts from the book were published at the weekend.

“As a woman and a mother, I was incredibly touched by Tanya’s story and I particularly want to praise her daughter Anna, who so bravely articulated her story,” Ley said in a statement.

“There is no doubt in Tanya Plibersek’s mind that she would have won the Labor leadership in 2019 and looking at the first nine months under Prime Minister Albanese, there’s probably not much doubt in anyone else’s mind either.”

If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault or violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au. 

For anyone seeking help, Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and Beyond Blue is 1300 22 4636.