New Greens leader Waters promises 'firm but constructive' approach
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More news: New Greens leader Larissa Waters has immediately called for “strong laws to protect nature”, as the party seeks a reset following its damaging election results.
Labor criticised the Greens for holding up key housing legislation in the last Parliament, though the minor party secured major concessions before passing the Housing Australia Future Fund.
Speaking after being elected the party’s fifth leader, Waters pledged to be “firm but constructive” during negotiations in the Senate — where the party will hold the sole balance of power.
“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,” she told reporters in Melbourne.
Former leader Adam Bandt lost his seat 10 days ago, with Waters insisting she intended to “strong-arm him” into returning to politics.
Like her predecessor, Waters stressed a cost-of-living focus but also said the Greens would always “call out a genocide” after taking an outspoken stance over Israel’s assault on Gaza.
Senator Mehreen Faruqi has been elected deputy leader, while Sarah Hanson-Young has been elected Greens manager of business in the Senate. Both women were candidates for leader on Thursday.
What they said: “I'm calling today for a progressive parliament, and a politics with heart …Now, the Labor Party has a choice. They can work with us,” Waters said.
Greens elect Larissa Waters as new leader to replace Adam Bandt
The news: The Greens have elected Senator Larissa Waters as their new leader, after Adam Bandt’s shock defeat.
The context: The Greens are reeling after the loss of three Lower House seats, including Bandt’s electorate of Melbourne, though secured all 11 of their Senate seats 10 days ago.
The party met to elect their new leader in Melbourne on Thursday, in a three-way contest between senators Waters, Sarah Hanson-Young, and Mehreen Faruqi.
The party will now hold sole balance of power in the Senate, meaning Labor will rely on it to pass legislation not backed by the Coalition.
The party does not disclose the vote count in leadership ballots, though Senator Nick McKim revealed Waters was ultimately elected uncontested.
Waters first entered Parliament at the 2010 federal election, but was forced to resign in 2017 after learning she held a dual Canadian citizenship. She returned the following year as the lead on the party’s Senate ticket in Queensland.
She was elected a co-deputy leader in 2020, when Bandt replaced the outgoing Richard Di Natale.
Under Bandt’s leadership, she most recently held the Greens’ women and democracy portfolios.
Waters is expected to speak to the media shortly.
The sources: The Sydney Morning Herald, ABC
