Hughesy’s fiery on-air clash with Greens leader

The radio host lashed out at the Greens leader during a fiery exchange that saw the politician labelled as “hypocrite”.

Dave “Hughesy” Hughes took on Australian Greens Leader Adam Bandt in a lively debate about veganism on The Fox’s Fifi, Fev & Nick.

Before Bandt appeared on the show, a clip played of Hughesy, who is a committed vegan, calling for the leader to “quit the party” after learning the Greens leader wasn’t a vegan himself.

The radio star questioned how Bandt could advocate for climate action without adopting a plant-based lifestyle.

After the fiery clip played on-air, Bandt was welcomed onto the show to explain his side of the debate.

Hughesy hit out at the Greens leader for not being a vegan despite advocating for climate change. Picture: Supplied.

The two exchanged banter as Hughesy labelled Bandt a hypocrite, challenging him to walk the talk on climate change by going vegan.

Hughesy asked the politician: “So you are not a vegan?”

“I’m not….” replied Bandt. “I applaud those who are, I applaud those who have made the shift. I’ve been thinking about it …”

Hughesy then interjected: “ … URGH, THINKING ABOUT IT?”

“I don’t have a good drop-dead reason, but I’ve been thinking about it,” insisted Bandt, much to Hughesy’s dismay. “And I can probably give you three justifications for it. Firstly, we’ve made big changes at home and basically only eat meat for special occasions, the rest of the time we’re vegan or vegetarian at home.”

“…. THERE’S ONE WAY, ADAM, THERE’S ONE WAY …” yelled the presenter in response.

Adam Bandt, Australian Greens Leader addresses, attempted to defend his lifestyle choice live on-air, much to the dismay of Hughesy. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Hughesy’s co-star, Fev, then jumped into the debate, asking: “What are you doing Dave?”

“Adam is doing the version of Leonardo DiCaprio and his private jet flying around the world while banging on about climate change,” he teased, before Fev had him cornered, suggesting he too was being a hypocrite by getting on a flight recently: “But you flew to Brisbane on the weekend …

“But I don’t bang on about it,” exclaimed Hughesy. “Adam is the leader of the Greens … it’s hypocritical! C’mon, you can do it, Adam, you can become a vegan! Be the change you want to see in the world, buddy!”

Hughesy has previously hailed the vegan diet as being responsible for his good health as he gets older.

Despite the lifestyle making ordering meals at restaurants a “little tricky” sometimes, he said it was “well worth it”.

He told the Body+Soul podcast back in 2021 that as a result of his diet he was now able to run five kilometres in an impressive 20 minutes.

Despite his personal health journey, he also revealed that his family had been less than enthusiastic about the change.

Originally published as Hughesy’s fiery on-air clash with Greens leader