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Steph Hodgins-May becomes Greens deputy leader after a six to five vote, replacing Larissa Waters, who resigned due to worsening kidney disease.
Steph Hodgins-May has been elected deputy leader of the Australian Greens after a leadership spill triggered by Larissa Waters stepping down due to worsening kidney disease.
The vote took place at a party room retreat in Sydney, where Hodgins-May defeated Tasmanian senator Vanessa Bleyer six votes to five. She was walking on a beach at Victoria's Phillip Island last weekend when she received the unexpected call about the spill. Three days later, Hodgins-May stood before 10 colleagues in a Sydney skyscraper. The setting was far from the stereotypical retreat, with fluorescent lighting rather than spa-like comforts.
She told the room she was new to the parliamentary job and not a polished politician, saying that was exactly why she should take on the role. Some party members believed the result was decided before the meeting, but she still made her case. New leader David Shoebridge brought two decades of parliamentary expertise. Hodgins-May said she understood her struggling generation and knew how to run a campaign after three lower house tilts and a run at the Victorian parliament.
Hodgins May's Political Roots
Party insiders said they were not surprised by her elevation. One insider, speaking anonymously, described her as universally liked and said she would help calm any ructions after an unusually competitive leadership contest. Hodgins-May's family background made progressive politics seem almost inevitable. Her partner, Ogy Simic, was a refugee whose family briefly found safe harbour in Germany after fleeing conflict in Sarajevo.
He is now a director at the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre. The couple have two young children, and Hodgins-May worries they may not be able to afford their own home or experience a vibrant natural world. Her mother was a drama and media teacher at an underfunded public school in regional Victoria. Her father, Rod May, was mayor of Hepburn Shire Council and one of the pioneers of sustainable agriculture in Australia.
Politics was the dinner table conversation, she said, and she saw both parents fighting for stronger education. Her father died after being struck by a driver who later tested positive to methamphetamine. Shortly before his death, Rod and his eldest daughter discovered that her great-great-grandfather, William Hill, was one of the founding members of the Country Party, now the Nationals.
Hodgins-May said there is something to be said for a long line of farmers feeling they need to get political to ensure communities have food. She said Hill left the party in disgust when members were forced to vote along party lines, which she linked to her criticism of major parties captured by vested interests. Hodgins-May told Nationals leader Matt Canavan about her heritage, and he joked that she should attend party events.
She responded: Look, I am here to bury the National Party. William Hill founded it, and I am here to bury it. She said she feels a deep connection to the land and to champions from the regions, and she is proud to continue that. Her father's death was not her first experience of tragic loss.
Tragic Loss In Samoa
Eight years earlier, her mother, Vivien Hodgins, was one of 189 people who died in the 2009 tsunami and earthquake that devastated Samoa. Hodgins-May recalled her father calling to tell her, and the agonising wait over 24 hours as media crews lined up at their gate. Her sister tweeted a photo of their mother asking if anyone had seen her. They then received the news no family wants to hear.
Months before the disaster, Hodgins-May had visited Lalomanu Beach while working for an organisation in Samoa that promotes women's economic inclusion. She knew her mother, a real beachgoer, would love the palm-lined paradise. A friend of her mother survived and said Vivien ran up and down the beach telling people to run because she had seen the water recede. She spent her final moments fighting to protect people, Hodgins-May said, and that is something she has to connect with.
Shortly after Vivien's death, Hodgins-May returned to Samoa and channelled her grief into support for the local community. Money the family raised went towards building a staircase on the beach's cliff face, an escape route for a future disaster. She said she does not want anyone to go through that doubt and uncertainty, the fear of not knowing what happened to a loved one. That fear will become more prevalent as the world careens towards climate chaos, she warned.
Commitment To Climate Action
Hodgins-May said she feels an immense responsibility to do anything and everything she can to ensure that does not happen. She wants to minimise the impacts on families across Australia and across the globe. Her elevation comes 17 years to the day after her mother's passing. She now serves in a leadership team alongside Shoebridge, who is determined to replace Labor, as the Greens seek to reshape their role in Australian politics.
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theage:This story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
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