Australian Greens leadership: The search for a new party face begins

The Leadership Shakeup

The Australian Greens are at a major crossroads. Following Larissa Waters’ shock resignation on Monday due to health reasons, the party is set to pick a new leadership team at a two-day retreat in Sydney starting this Wednesday. The stakes? Highkey monumental.

We’ve already seen a scramble for the top spots. Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, the joint ticket of Mehreen Faruqi and Nick McKim, and the duo of David Shoebridge and Steph Hodgins-May have all officially thrown their hats in the ring. The plot thickens as former leader Adam Bandt—now chief executive of the Australian Conservation Foundation—and party veteran Bob Brown weigh in on what the future needs to look like.

The Mission: Stop the Drill

Bandt isn’t mincing words: the next leader needs to be ready to block the Albanese government from approving any new coal and gas projects, period. He pointed to major climate flashpoints ahead of the next election, like Woodside’s Browse gas project, fracking in the Beetaloo basin, and the use of fracked gas for datacentres.

"Look, there’s no excuse now, there’s no parliamentary blocker to stopping new coal and gas mines," Bandt told Guardian Australia. He’s lowkey demanding a "get it done" energy from whoever takes the reins.

The Political Arena

Bob Brown is looking at the bigger picture. He wants a leader who can go toe-to-toe with both Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Pauline Hanson of One Nation. He’s calling for a "strong and able negotiator" who can pull off more than just incremental changes.

It’s a tough environment for the Greens. While they’ve maintained a steady primary vote—hovering between 11% and 15% throughout 2026—they’re struggling to expand that base. NSW Greens member Sue Higginson noted that competing against narratives fueled by "dark money" makes the struggle to cut through the noise real talk difficult.

Why it matters

With Waters stepping down, the Greens are trying to maintain their momentum as the "antidote" to political despair. Whether they pivot toward aggressive activism or refined negotiation will dictate their influence on Australia’s climate future ahead of the 2028 cycle.