David Shoebridge has been elected leader of Australia’s Greens, prompting former deputy Mehreen Faruqi to criticise the party’s direction after losing the contest.
Shoebridge secured the leadership vote at a party retreat in Sydney on Wednesday, defeating Faruqi and South Australian senator Sarah Hanson-Young.
He won six primary votes in the first round, ahead of Faruqi on three and Hanson-Young on two. After preferences were distributed, Shoebridge defeated Faruqi by seven votes to four.
Faruqi stepped down as deputy leader to contest the top position but said she would not seek to retain the deputy role, arguing she could have greater influence outside the leadership team.
“Of course, I am disappointed the party room chose another direction, and know many others will feel the same way,” she said in a statement issued after the result.
She said she remained inspired by Greens members organising across the country and described the party as a movement whose strength came “from the community, not the parliament or our MPs”.
Faruqi also renewed her call for the party’s members, rather than its MPs, to elect its leaders. She said the leadership contest had reinforced frustration among grassroots members because there had been no wider vote.
“Without a member vote, we cannot call ourselves a grassroots party,” she said, calling on the new leadership team to set a timetable for “one member, one vote”.
Victorian senator Steph Hodgins-May was elected deputy leader after running on a joint ticket with Shoebridge. She said she looked forward to working with him to grow the movement and confront what she called the climate crisis, which she said was already present.
David Shoebridge attacks Labor after Greens leadership win
In his first address as leader, Shoebridge praised Larissa Waters before turning his attention to the Labor government and the wider political establishment.
He argued that families were struggling with the cost of basic necessities, saying some people were deciding whether to pay for insurance or replace their fridge.
“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,” Shoebridge said. “The Greens are here to replace them, and this is the team.”
He said the party was no longer focused on simply influencing Labor from the crossbench, claiming that Labor had helped create the conditions for the rise of One Nation.
“Politics as usual is not providing the answers that people are desperately calling for now,” he said.
Shoebridge is one of the Greens’ most prominent public figures, with a focus on issues including artificial intelligence, AUKUS, defence policy and the Middle East.
He takes over after Waters announced earlier in the week that she was stepping down because of deteriorating health. Visibly emotional, Waters said leading the Greens for 16 months had been an “incredible honour” but that she needed to look after herself.
Waters said she would return as a Queensland senator after taking medical leave. She also said she was proud of the party’s achievements and noted that it was polling strongly despite a shift towards One Nation and Pauline Hanson.
