EXCLUSIVE - Brian Mitchell confirms state politics tilt

Brian Mitchell has confirmed he will seek pre-selection for Labor in the upcoming Tasmanian election.

Mr Mitchell was the Federal Member for Lyons from 2016 to 2025.

In the lead-up to the most recent federal election, he stood aside to allow former Tasmanian Labor Leader Rebecca White to contest the seat.

Speaking on Thursday, less than 24 hours after Premier Jeremy Rockliff called a snap election, Mr Mitchell said he did not expect to return to politics so soon.

“This wasn’t on my bingo card,” he said.

“Like most Tasmanians, I expected that the state election would be a couple of years away.

"But this opportunity came along to continue to make a contribution to public life.”

Mr Mitchell said Tasmania has some “pretty serious problems” that he wanted to see addressed.

“The budget position that the Liberals have left us in after 11 years is horrific.

“We’re hurdling towards $11b of debt along with the Spirits fiasco, so we’ve got some big issues that I’d like to be a part of trying to solve.”

While he was yet to be preselected, Mr Mitchell said he was confident he would be on the Labor ticket for Lyons in the state election.

“I look forward to being part of a strong Labor team for Lyons. We’ve already got Jen Butler and Casey Farrell.

“Jen’s a very experienced member of the Lyons team, but Casey’s already shown in his short time in parliament that he’s got a quality contribution to make.”

Mr Mitchell said he hoped the party would achieve majority government.

“We need three, or even four seats, in Lyons to try and achieve a Dean Winter Labor government.

“There’s no doubt that we need a change of government in this state.

“The Liberals have been there for 11 years and they are absolutely just a rust bucket government.

“They’ve got no ideas and they need to go.”

Tasmanian Labor Leader Dean Winter said he had not spoke to Mr Mitchell.

"We're talking to a lot of candidates, and you can imagine some of the names, but I'll make sure they make their own decisions."