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Australian Greens senators David Shoebridge, Mehreen Faruqi and Sarah Hanson-Young are contesting the party leadership after Larissa Waters resigned due to worsening chronic kidney disease, with a vote set for this week.
Australian Greens senators David Shoebridge, Mehreen Faruqi and Sarah Hanson-Young are contesting the party leadership in a rare three-way race, with a vote expected this week.
The contest follows the resignation of leader Larissa Waters, who stepped down to focus on treatment for worsening chronic kidney disease. Waters is expected to take medical leave before returning to the Senate. Shoebridge announced on Wednesday he would stand on a joint ticket with Victorian senator Steph Hodgins-May as his proposed deputy. They will face a joint ticket led by deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi, with Tasmanian senator Nick McKim as her proposed deputy.
Shoebridge Favored in Greens Leadership Vote
Veteran South Australian senator Sarah Hanson-Young is expected to run on a leader-only ticket. Greens sources told Guardian Australia that Shoebridge was a strong favourite to win. Greens MPs will meet in Sydney over the next two days for a pre-planned retreat where they will vote for a leader. The pool of candidates represents almost half of the 11-person party room, giving six parliamentarians who are not running the power to decide the outcome.
The Greens have typically sought a consensus candidate before leadership votes, with Waters promoted following last May's election in an unopposed ballot. In a statement, Shoebridge and Hodgins-May said: This is the time to build our movement as the home for every Australian who wants action on the climate crisis, a fair return from our resources, a secure home and income, and not to sell out our independence to the US or the 1%.
They added: We do not seek to reform Labor, but to replace them. They also said: The answer to the rise of One Nation and the far right is giving people hope, and making people's lives better with real economic and environmental security. Shoebridge entered federal parliament in 2022 after more than a decade in NSW state politics, serving as a state MP from 2010 to 2022.
Shoebridge and Hodgins May Policy Platforms
He holds the Greens' defence and foreign affairs portfolios and is the parliament's primary opposer of the AUKUS treaty, arguing that proximity to the United States and President Trump represents a sovereign risk to Australia. Hodgins-May is one of the Greens' two millennial senators and joined parliament in 2024 to fill a casual vacancy left by retiring Victorian senator Janet Rice.
In her pitch for the leadership, Faruqi said the Greens needed to grow, highlighting a broken economic model that was hurting voters. She has expressed frustration that the Greens have not seen a boost in the polls since the election, amid the ascendancy of One Nation, compared with the rise of populist left-wing leaders in the UK such as Greens leader Zack Polanski and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Hanson Young Challenges One Nation Rise
Hanson-Young, the first Green to put their hand up for leadership candidacy, raised the threat of a hate peddling One Nation and highlighted protection of the environment in her pitch to party members. She said on Tuesday she was contacting her colleagues to seek their support. Hanson-Young has previously sought the party's leadership but been rebuffed by colleagues. Former Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather on Tuesday called for the party's membership to get a vote in the leadership race.
In a letter to parliamentary colleagues, he wrote: The selection of a new leader comes at a time of genuine debate and disagreement about the future strategic and political direction of the party. That debate could not have higher stakes. He said the Greens received almost 2 million votes last election, yet the direction of the party's leadership would be determined by just 11 elected representatives.
New Leader Faces Pressure After Election Losses
The party's new leader 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. Adam Bandt, Chandler-Mather and MP Stephen Bates all lost their seats at the 2025 election, and One Nation has replaced the Greens as the third major force in federal politics.
Former leader Bob Brown told Guardian Australia the new leader needed to fight Pauline Hanson and Anthony Albanese more forcefully.
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smh:Almost half the Greens partyroom is contesting in leadership showdown 
GuardianAus:David Shoebridge launches leadership bid ahead of Greens ballot at party retreatThis story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
David Shoebridge Mehreen Faruqi Sarah Hanson-Young Larissa Waters Resignation Australian Greens Leadership Contest
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