Monash University Media Release
With Greens Leader Larissa Waters announcing her resignation earlier this week, the party is due to elect their next leader. Monash experts talk about the leadership candidates and what it means for the future of the party.
Dr Zareh Ghazarian, Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations, at the Monash School of Social Sciences says that:
“Australian politics has changed since Larissa Waters took the helm of the Greens in 2025. Back then, the party could have been considered the third force in national politics. Now, however, the party appears to have been overshadowed by a resurgent One Nation party. Media and political commentary currently revolve around One Nation, leaving the Greens little room to build their profile.
“Throughout the 1990s and 2000s Bob Brown became a focal point for Green politics in Australia. Leaders since then have had shorter stints in the top job, reflecting the broader fragility of Australian political leaders in the contemporary period.
“To say that the Australian Greens in 2026 are facing a challenging moment is an understatement. The party lost federal parliamentary representation in 2025, and their primary vote appears to be stagnating. The party’s next leader has to address two immediate issues: first, they must seek to maintain unity within the party’s parliamentary team and wider organisation; second, they must further lift the party’s profile to try and build the party’s electoral support.
“The ideal Greens leader will have to demonstrate a blend of political acumen, to show the party is still vital to shaping legislation, as well as the flair to make the party stand out in contemporary Australian politics. The party room faces a defining choice as the next leader will carry the weight of the Greens’ ambitions in a changing political climate.”
Dr Nathan Fioritti, Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, also at the Monash School of Social Sciences says:
“Several contenders are being discussed as possible replacements for Waters – South Australian Senator Sarah Hanson-Young and NSW Senators Mehreen Faruqi and David Shoebridge. Hanson-Young was first to throw her hat in the ring, followed by Faruqi, the current Deputy Leader, on a joint ticket with Tasmanian Senator Nick McKim as Deputy, and Shoebridge, on a joint ticket with Victorian Senator Steph Hodgkins-May as Deputy.
“Hanson-Young is the longest serving federal Green, first elected as a Senator in 2008 at the age of 25. She was the youngest woman elected to the federal parliament at the time. All other contenders, while they have not been on the federal scene as long, most have previously served as representatives in their respective state parliaments. Shoebridge, who was elected in 2022, is newest, but has cultivated a notable profile as a senator, particularly on foreign policy issues.
“At the time Waters was elected leader, she was viewed by many in the party as a compromise candidate between Faruqi and Hanson-Young – the two other likely contenders who, in the end, did not put their names forward – with Faruqi representing the left of the party, while Hanson-Young is a more moderate figure closer to the political centre.
“A priority for The Greens, whoever takes over the leadership, will be positioning the party as a left-wing alternative to One Nation for disaffected voters turning away from the major parties – which is something The Greens have struggled to do under Waters.
“In the UK, The Greens grew their support after electing a new leader, Zack Polanski. As leader, he has raised the party’s profile through a left-wing populist pivot that sought to position The Greens as an alternative to both Labour and their ascendant far right party, Reform. Both Faruqi and Shoebridge have recently expressed desires for The Greens in Australia to emulate the approach of left-wing populists such as Polanski.”
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David has shown to have the ability to engender respect from all sides and beware anybody with an ounce of incompetence because he won’t tolerate it. He has a combination of quiet determination with a voice of authority, and any politician who seeks to put one across us, will be called out. Look out, Albo, you’re about to be held to account, which has never happened before.
I wish the Greens well, along with similar wishes for leadership in all political parties and associated bodies of relevance. This is not a well-informed or well-led nation. Few have risen above adequacy. A. Kohler is retiring, one who, along with R Gittins, has assessed events and needs well. Very rarely does an Oliphant, Coombs or a Gough, Curtin or a D Dunstan come along. Hudson Fysh, Essington Lewis, Mawson, Monash, not near enough. But let us offer, suggest, consider, our right and duty. The Greens at least suggest “up and away”, nothing like PHON “down and suck.” Jen says it well…
@ Phil Pryor: Well said. My concern is the naked aspiration of David Shoebridge to replace LABOR:
”We’re not here to push Labor to be a little better. We are here to replace them.
We know the answer to the rise of One Nation and the far right is to give people hope by making their lives materially better, with greater economic security, stronger public services and a safer climate.
That means building a bigger [Greens] movement while staying true to the grassroots politics the Greens were founded on.”
Shoebridge, imho, had the best of the interviewer on ABC brekkie this morning.
His interview indicated that he did not want to be coralled into enviro-as only one part of a wider malaise, but has realised that enviro only can’t work unless the overall pol-enonomic land scape is changed We’d hoped for a change after Morrison was chucked). Shoebridge, is sceptical of the major parties and their brazen but furtive lobbyists and who can blame him?
Current political formations are deaf to the groans from the public as this mornings interview revealed; consider the news item on a strike in the medical sector in Victoria, emphasising the point re big handouts to offshore grifters, instead more encouragement for locals if they want “productivity” to improve!
And, about time Labor solved it’s revenue problem, instead of allowing TNC’s to push for spending cuts on social infrastructures.
Get well soon Larissa, parliament could do with more MPs who oppose genocide, AUKUS, war, and are concerned for the social good, not just the corporate good, like yourself.
Kos Samaras has an excellent comment and research that explains the failure of the two party political system.
https://johnmenadue.com/post/2026/10/the-one-nation-vote-is-a-map-of-government-neglect/
Jack Waterford charts a way forward for the Greens while Alb-Appeasie continues to disappoint and underwhelm Australian voters.
https://johnmenadue.com/post/2026/10/greens-can-hope-to-pick-up-the-mess-labor-and-albanese-have-made/
@ Thommo: Is this a feasible alternative??
NEC,
to see what has to be overcome for The Greens moving forward, read David Tyler’s article: https://urbanwronski.com/2026/10/04/monstering-of-david-shoebridge/
I did find interesting in Jack’s article: “The power of memberships, and the number of them, have collapsed to the point that total Australian party membership is significantly less than 200,000, most members in all parties aged 60 or more. Likewise, One Nation, rather like Reform in the UK, is a commercial franchise wholly owned and operated by Pauline Hanson for her own ends, not her party’s. Why would the Greens want to imitate any of these models?”
I’m not sure that I even understand what Jack means by a ‘mass party’.
@ Thommo: Jack Waterford, From P&I 071026:
Labor will need to do something to remain in government, now that the Greens have a credible leader in David Shoebridge, in a similar mold to founder Bob Brown.
https://johnmenadue.com/post/2026/10/greens-can-hope-to-pick-up-the-mess-labor-and-albanese-have-made/
An interesting insight into the machinations of the Greens. Regardless of personalities, perhaps the optimal solution is for the Greens politicians to put the election behind them & work as a well debated team for the best interests of Australian voters living in a growing non-policy world drifting into the false ”joys” of an Occupied State of the USA (Undemocratic Sewer of Apartheid).
The USUKA sub debacle has Australian voters paying about $368 billion tribute for the ”protection” of the USA while allowing our national sovereignty to be swept aside for the benefit of the US billionaire’s club seeking to defend their failing dominance in world economic activity. This is most clearly seen in the EV revolution that is sweeping Australia, Europe and indeed the ICE powered world, even the currently diesel based long distance freight logistics industry.
There have been long distance High Speed Rocket (HSR) trains in PRC China for 20+ years. In Australia we have an antique collection of 19th century rolling stock and very expensive (now $30 billion) driverless trains purchased as an ideological whim by a too long Coalition NSW misgovernment. Even the mixed gauge problem was repeated for NW suburban Sydney.
The current Alb-Appeasie LABOR government rarely looks out from under the Canberra Bubble to see how Australian voters are struggling to live while the foreign shareholders of Australian banks grow richer on the hard-to-pay mortgages.
This is the current view from regional Australia that faces Shoebridge & the Greens.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/everyone-s-missed-the-most-shocking-thing-about-the-greens-top-job-vote-20261008-p613gl.html (paywall)