David Shoebridge has declared he wants to replace Labor and has accused the government of creating the circumstances for One Nation’s rise in his first remarks after being elected the Greens federal leader.
The party’s 10 senators and lone MP met to decide the new leadership team during a pre-planned two-day retreat in Sydney following the shock resignation of Larissa Waters on Monday, due to ill health.
The leadership became a three-way race after Shoebridge announced his run on Wednesday morning. The South Australian senator Sarah Hanson-Young had declared her candidacy on Tuesday, followed by a joint ticket of New South Wales senator and former deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi and treasury spokesperson senator Nick McKim.
Shoebridge was announced as leader with Steph Hodgins-May as his deputy on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters, Shoebridge paid tribute to Waters, and said she rose to the occasion after taking the leadership in challenging circumstances.
“This is an extraordinary moment in politics and we can all feel it. We can feel that politics as usual is not providing the answers that people are desperately calling for now,” Shoebridge said.
“We know the Greens need to seize this moment because politics demands it of us … Labor has created the circumstances for One Nation, and Labor is not the answer. The Greens, the progressive alternative, we’re here to beat down One Nation, and we’re here to replace Labor and return hope and faith to politics.”
Shoebridge won on primaries with six votes, with Faruqi receiving three votes and Hanson-Young receiving two. Following preferences, Shoebridge won seven votes to four.
The deputy leadership was also contested. Hodgins-May won six votes on primaries, while Vanessa Bleyer, who recently replaced Peter Whish-Wilson, received three votes, and Jordon Steele-John received two.
Hanson-Young was elected uncontested as Greens manager of business while Penny Allman-Payne was elected uncontested as party chair.
Shoebridge entered federal parliament in 2022, after more than a decade in NSW state politics. He holds the Greens’ defence and foreign affairs portfolios, and is a forceful presence in parliamentary debates, on social media and in Senate estimates hearings.
Before politics, he was a corporate lawyer and then became a barrister specialising in employment law, and at one point was a Labor branch member in Sydney’s inner west. In the early 2000s he met the hard-left Greens MP Lee Rhiannon, who went on to become his mentor.
‘People are desperate for material change’
Shoebridge said voters wanted to see some drastic political changes, rather than gradual reform.
“That is the dead politics of Labor, it’s the dead politics of the Coalition, and when you really test it, it’s the dead politics of One Nation,” he said.
“People are desperate for material change. They don’t want another meaningless message being delivered by some Labor hack that they know isn’t going to change their lives. They want to take on the vested interests.”
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Hodgins-May is one of the Greens’ newest members, and entered parliament in May 2024, filling a casual vacancy created by Janet Rice’s retirement.
In a statement on social media, Faruqi said she was disappointed by the result.
“Globally, people are struggling against genocide, wars, surging fascism and the twin crises of capitalism making working life too expensive and climate breakdown threatening our future,” she said.
“This struggle calls for bold politics and radical action. I did not stand again for deputy leader today because, on reflection, I believe I can best play my part in that action outside the constraints of the leadership team.”
Under Waters, the Greens supported the government to pass nature laws, including the establishment of a federal environment watchdog, and more recently supported Labor’s changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax. The Greens also teamed up with the Coalition and crossbench in the Senate to force Labor to drop a controversial $5,000 cap for veterans to access allied health services, and compelled the government to bring forward 20,000 aged care beds.
Waters said she would take some medical leave before returning to the Senate.
“It’s with great sadness that I’m not able to continue in that role due to my health getting worse. I hope to be OK but I need to look after myself to do that. I’m proud that the party is polling higher than ever before amidst the surge to the right–wing forces of politics,” Waters said.
Shoebridge will come under pressure to bring a more forceful approach to the job, amid frustrations with Waters’ more moderate style, and the party’s inability to exploit growing moves by voters away from Labor and the Coalition.
The former Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather on Tuesday called for the party’s membership to get a vote in the leadership race. In her statement, Faruqi said she had also long advocated for a membership vote.
