New South Wales senator David Shoebridge has been elected leader of the Australian Greens following a parliamentary party room vote in Sydney on Wednesday.
Shoebridge defeated fellow New South Wales senator Mehreen Faruqi by seven votes to four after preference distributions, prompting Faruqi to step down from her position as deputy leader after launching a passionate challenge for the top job.
Ballot details and leadership outcome
The leadership vote was triggered earlier in the week when former party leader Larissa Waters announced she would step down from the leadership due to ill health. Waters will remain a senator for Queensland after she returns from medical leave.
Shoebridge led the initial round of voting in the parliamentary party room with six primary votes. Faruqi received three primary votes, while South Australian senator Sarah Hanson-Young secured two votes. After Hanson-Young was eliminated and her preferences were distributed, Shoebridge achieved a final victory over Faruqi by seven votes to four.
Shoebridge ran on a joint ticket with Victorian senator Steph Hodgins-May, a relative newcomer who was elected to the federal Senate in 2024. Following Shoebridge's leadership victory, Hodgins-May was elected as the party's new deputy leader.
Faruqi steps down and demands election reform
Following the ballot result, Faruqi issued a formal statement confirming that she had stepped down as deputy leader to contest the leadership, while expressing disappointment at the outcome.
"This morning I stepped down as Deputy Leader of the Greens to put my hand up for Leader," Faruqi said. "Of course, I am disappointed the party room chose another direction, and know many others will feel the same way."
Pointedly declining to congratulate Shoebridge, Faruqi called for a fundamental overhaul of how the party elects its leaders. She urged the party to allow grassroots members to vote in future leadership contests rather than confining the decision to elected parliamentarians.
Faruqi, a prominent figure in the party's far-left faction, warned that current times call for "radical action" and stated: "I believe I can best play my part in that action outside the constraints of the leadership team."
She added that she remained inspired by party members, stating: "It's a privilege to be an elected member of a movement whose power, and appetite for change, comes from the community, not the parliament or our MPs." She pointed to global challenges, noting that people are struggling against war, genocide, surging fascism, climate breakdown, and economic pressures under capitalism that make daily life too expensive.
Shoebridge targets Labor and One Nation
Emerging from the Sydney party retreat alongside Hodgins-May, Shoebridge delivered an aggressive political declaration outlining the party's strategic direction under his leadership.
Shoebridge declared war on Pauline Hanson's One Nation and stated that the Greens aim to eclipse the governing Australian Labor Party as the country's main political voice of the left.
"Labor has created the circumstances for One Nation, and Labor is not the answer," Shoebridge said. "The Greens, the progressive alternative, we're here to beat down One Nation, and we're here to replace Labor and return hope and faith to politics."
Criticising the federal government, Shoebridge argued that after four years under Labor, conditions have grown harder for ordinary Australians while favoring the top one per cent. He highlighted household pressures across the country, noting that families are anxious about affording basic groceries and choosing whether to pay for insurance or replace household appliances like refrigerators.
"These are not decisions that Australians should be making in a country with the wealth and opportunity that Australia has," Shoebridge said. He added: "What has become so clear after four years of this government and years before is that we are not here to make the Labor Party any better. The Greens are here to replace them, and this is the team."
Background and political context
Shoebridge enters the leadership role as one of the Greens' most prominent federal public figures. Before his election to the Senate, he served in the New South Wales Legislative Council and practiced as a barrister. In federal parliament, he has been a vocal commentator on artificial intelligence, defence policy, anti-corruption initiatives, Middle Eastern foreign policy, and the AUKUS trilateral defence agreement.
The Australian Greens, founded in 1992, operate as the third-largest political party in Australia. The party plays a crucial role in the Senate, the upper house of the Parliament of Australia, where the government of the day often requires crossbench support to pass federal legislation into law.
Under current Greens rules, leadership ballots are decided exclusively by the federal parliamentary party room, consisting of elected senators and members of the House of Representatives. Faruqi's call for grassroots member voting reflects broader discussions within minor political parties regarding internal party democracy and member participation.
With Waters set to return to her Senate duties representing Queensland, the new leadership team of Shoebridge and Hodgins-May will focus on preparing the party for legislative debates in Canberra and upcoming national electoral contests.
