The Greens federal party room has unanimously elected Senator Larissa Waters as the new leader of the Australian Greens.
The leadership ballot was uncontested.
Greens Leader Senator Larissa Waters will be ably supported by a team of proven performers:
- Senator Mehreen Faruqi will remain in the role of Deputy Leader
- Senator Sarah Hanson-Young will be the Greens Manager of Business
- Senator Nick McKim will be Party Whip
- Senator Penny Allman-Payne will be Party Room Chair and Deputy Whip
Larissa Waters was elected to federal parliament in 2011 after a career as an environmental lawyer working on high profile cases protecting biodiversity, world heritage-listed sites, stopping native species extinctions and broadening environmental impact assessments.
Larissa has held various portfolios in the Greens, most notably the women's portfolio and climate spokesperson in the Senate.
In the women's portfolio, Senator Waters established the Issues related to menopause and perimenopause senate inquiry which gave voice to legions of women and resulted in cheaper menopause treatments being included on the PBS. She also instigated the Universal access to reproductive health senate inquiry to protect Australia's abortion rights from global threats under the first Trump administration, which highlighted the lack of accessibility and affordability of abortion and the need for free contraception.
A strong advocate for women's rights in the workplace, Larissa made history in 2016 as the first MP to breastfeed in federal parliament. Larissa was also the first person to say the word perimenopause in the federal parliament in 2023.
Larissa is the single mum to two school-aged kids and resides in Meanjin/Brisbane.
Portfolio allocations are decided by the Greens Leader, and will be allocated at a later date.
As put by Greens Leader Senator Larissa Waters:
"I call today for politics with heart - for a progressive parliament that gets outcomes for people and genuinely tackles the problems we're all facing.
"This parliament could achieve real progress: climate and environment action, dental into Medicare and free childcare.
"The Greens will be firm but constructive in our approach with the Labor government, and work for outcomes that help improve peoples' lives and protect nature and the climate.
"Voters across this country delivered the Greens the sole balance of power in the Senate and we take that responsibility really seriously.
"Labor will have a choice: work with the Greens for climate action and dental into Medicare, or work with the Liberals to keep opening up new coal and gas and tinker around the edges of the housing and cost of living crises.
"I thank my party room colleagues for their unanimous support today, and I also want to pay tribute to Adam Bandt for his leadership and dedication to our movement over the last 15 years."
As put by Greens Deputy Leader Senator Mehreen Faruqi:
'I'm delighted to get the trust of my colleagues to continue on as the deputy leader with Larissa as leader.
"I'm really excited that for the first time there are two women at the helm of our Greens ship and we are ready to start the work our members, voters and the community have given us to do.
"Migrant and multicultural communities in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne have backed us for speaking the truth and standing against the genocide in Gaza.
"To the right wing media, the billionaires, the big corporations and the Albanese Government this is my message: We will not be taking a step back on climate action, on the environment, on housing and on Palestine. People want us to fight for them and the planet, and that is exactly what we will be doing.
"This moment demands more from us, not less. The planet is burning, inequality is deepening, and young people cannot afford a Government that tinkers around the edges as their future disappears.
"We will deliver the hope, courage and transformation this moment demands.
"People have voted for the Greens to hold the sole balance of power in the senate and we will not let them down.
