Shadow Minister for Agriculture Joel Fitzgibbon has hinted he may put his hand up for the Labor leadership in an underwhelming pitch on The Today Show.
Following the shock federal election that saw Labor lose over the weekend, Bill Shorten has since resigned as Labor leader, prompting the MP for Hunter, north of Sydney, to step forward as a candidate for leadership.
Mr Fitzgibbon has now said he may throw his hat in the ring to become leader of the Opposition, but only as a last resort if the other candidates fail to protect coal mining.
Mr Fitzgibbon was grilled by The https://twitter.com/TheTodayShow/status/1130587474424549376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1130587474424549376&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.news.com.au%2Fnational%2Ffederal-election%2Fanother-contender-for-the-labor-leadership-emerges%2Fnews-story%2F6adb0a1dda5ace5f2edafc8182b1073b's Deborah Knight on Tuesday morning, who asked if he'd be willing to go for the top spot.
Anthony Albanese (centre) announced his intentions for the role and said he would be a different Labor leader to Bill Shorten because of their different paths
'I am considering doing so, yes. I would much rather someone else do it, but if I need to do it to secure the new path, the new direction we need, then I certainly will,' Mr Fitzgibbon said.
When asked if he wanted the job, the shadow minister said there were a whole range of viable candidates, but more needed to be done to target rural and regional Australia.
'What I am particularly interested is the policy direction and the message we send to the community particularly rural and regional Australia,' he said.
'Ideally I would like to see a leader who doesn't live in the capital cities.'
'I want a leader who stand up to say "I support coalmining industry and cheap gas out of the ground to fuel the manufacturing sector and create jobs and I do want a big seat at the table for regional Australia." If they are prepared to commit loudly and proudly I am happy to support that. If not I will run myself.'
Mr Fitzgibbon believes the Labor party has drifted a little too far to the left, and says they need to get back to the centre and reconnect to the 'working class base'.
The announcement comes shortly after Queensland Labor MP Jim Chalmers also hinted he would run for the leadership.
When asked if he wanted the job, Shadow Minister for agriculture Joel Fitzgibbon (pictured) said there were a whole range of viable candidates
The member for Rankin said on Q&A that he was talking to his colleagues and was considering a tilt at the leadership.
'I'm considering it. I'm talking to my colleagues about it. I don't think it's unreasonable that a few of us take some time to work out what we want to do,' he said on Monday night.
The election loss on Saturday was 'heartbreaking' but wanted to play a substantial role in the party's
