2025-05-15
Larissa Waters has become the fifth leader of the federal Greens after a party room meeting in Melbourne ended with what party sources described as a consensus decision. The move replaces Adam Bandt, who resigned after the Greens' poor showing at the federal election and the loss of three of the party's four lower house seats.
The leadership transition gives the Greens a new public face at a moment when the party is trying to recover from a disappointing campaign without losing its place in the national conversation. Waters, a Queensland senator and the party's former Senate leader, has long been one of its most senior figures. Her elevation keeps the top job in the hands of a parliamentarian with deep organisational experience rather than bringing in an outsider or a newer profile.
The decision was settled among a smaller party room after competing ambitions emerged. Mehreen Faruqi and Sarah Hanson-Young were in the running for the leadership, but neither ended up challenging the consensus around Waters. Faruqi will continue as deputy leader, while Hanson-Young becomes manager of business in the Senate. The party also chose Nick McKim as Senate whip and Penny Allman-Payne as deputy whip, defeating Dorinda Cox in the internal vote.
Waters used her first remarks to strike a note that mixed continuity with urgency. She said the room's sentiment made her feel strengthened, but added that the party had a lot of work to do because people were hurting and the planet was hurting. She also signalled that the Greens would take a “firm but constructive” approach in the next parliament, saying they had been elected to get things done.
That message reflects the party's changed parliamentary position. Although it lost ground in the lower house, the Greens held all 11 of their Senate seats and are still likely to matter in negotiations because the upper house remains tightly balanced. ABC reporting said Labor may be able to pass legislation with Greens support alone, which gives the party leverage even after its lower house setback.
Waters is not new to that role. First elected in 2010, she is now the second-longest-serving member of the Greens party room behind Hanson-Young. Her background includes years as a deputy leader and a portfolio list that has covered women, democracy and climate issues. That experience makes the leadership handover less of a gamble than a reset.
The party's immediate challenge is to turn a bruising election into a coherent opposition strategy. Waters has already indicated that the Greens will not abandon the lower house even if their practical centre of gravity now sits in the Senate. The leadership change is therefore both symbolic and tactical: it marks the end of Bandt's tenure, but it also keeps the party anchored in the chamber where it still has the most leverage.
