Larissa Waters is the new Greens leader, being elected by her party in an uncontested ballot. Photo: Larissa Waters Instagram.
Queensland Senator Larissa Waters is the new leader of the Australian Greens, replacing former leader Adam Bandt who lost his seat in the 3 May federal election.
The federal Greens team gathered in Melbourne on Thursday (15 May) and unanimously chose Senator Waters as their leader.
While a three-way contest had been touted with fellow senators Mehreen Faruqi and Sarah Hanson-Young, there was ultimately no ballot contested.
Senator Faruqi retains the deputy leadership of the party and Senator Hanson-Young stays as the Greens manager of business.
Senator Waters is the Greens’ fifth leader in the Federal Parliament, following Bob Brown, Christine Milne, Richard Di Natale and Mr Bandt.
Following the party meeting, the new leader said she wanted to see a progressive parliament in the term ahead.
“I feel so strengthened by the sentiment of the room and by this amazing team,” she said.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do because people are really hurting and the planet is hurting, and we need a parliament that actually delivers for people and has the courage and the boldness and the heart to deliver some help to people.
“So I’m calling today for a progressive parliament and a politics with heart.”
Senator Waters acknowledged Mr Bandt’s leadership, saying she missed him “desperately” and would try and coax him back in the future.
“I’m the fifth leader of our wonderful party, and I pay tribute to all of our previous leaders. And I really want to thank my party room colleagues for their support today,” she said.
“It’s never been more important to have a strong Greens team in parliament. The issues that people are facing are getting harder and are getting worse.
“We need strong action on the climate, on nature, on the housing crisis, on the cost-of-living crisis.
“And we need our parliament to work to actually meet the needs of the people that it’s been elected to represent.”
Under her leadership, Senator Waters said, the Greens would be “firm but constructive” while working with the Labor Government.
She said the parliament could achieve “real progress” on climate and environment action, free childcare and getting dental into Medicare.
Senator Waters was first elected to the Senate in 2010 and became part of the party’s leadership team in 2015.
She made history in 2017 when she breastfed her baby daughter in the Senate chamber, leading the way for what has sensibly become a non-issue for others.
She was forced to resign from the Senate that same year, however, over her dual Canadian-Australian citizenship, making her one of a number of parliamentary victims of section 44 of the Australian constitution.
After renouncing her Canadian citizenship, she was appointed to fill a casual vacancy in the Senate in 2018 and was subsequently re-elected to the Senate the following year.
The ACT’s Greens leader Shane Rattenbury congratulated Senator Waters on her election as federal leader.
“Over the past half decade, Adam Bandt has shown what it means to lead with purpose, and has set a high standard for what growing the Greens movement looks like, and what people-powered politics can achieve,” he said.
“Now looking ahead, I’m confident this new leadership team has what it takes to guide our movement into its next chapter – growing our support and driving meaningful change with collaboration, but also with strong conviction.
“Despite the media spin and tireless work of major party commentators to bring down the Greens, we’ve seen a strong primary vote at this election – and while there is work to be done in growing our movement even more, well over a million Australians have put their faith in our party to fight for change.
“Not only do we hold the balance of power in the Senate, but across the country, the Greens are now in a two-party contest in more winnable seats than ever before – setting us up for success at the next federal election.”
The Greens lost three of their four House of Representatives seats at the federal election, including Mr Bandt’s seat of Melbourne.
It leaves them with only one Lower House seat, but with 11 senators the Greens will have the balance of power in the Upper House.
Original Article published by Chris Johnson on Region Canberra.
