Greens co-founder expelled from party after ‘trans and queer cult’ claim

A huge row has erupted in the Greens over trans rights amid claims an intolerant “trans and queer” cult has taken over the party.

The co-founder of the Australian Greens has been officially expelled from the party after warning the party has been taken over by a “trans and queer cult” that is attacking free speech.

Drew Hutton’s life membership of the Greens was terminated by delegates of the state branches on Sunday, with party officials releasing a statement insisting that “trans rights are non-negotiable human rights.”

But the 78 year old has hit back warning the Greens have been taken over by an intolerant cult.

“The fact is that the Greens in a number of states have been taken over by a cult,’’ he said.

New federal Greens leader Larissa Waters on the balcony of her Brisbane office at Paddington. Picture Lachie Millard

“A transgender and queer cult – that has come to control key decision-making positions in the party, such as disciplinary and preselection committees and administrative positions, that give them enormous power, and they use this to influence preselections and expel those who disagree with them,’’ he said.

“They have abandoned the historic mission I believed they had when I founded the party, a mission to help bring about an ecologically sustainable world.”

The long-running saga that led to the termination of Mr Hutton’s membership began in June 2022 when he took to Facebook to discuss moves in Victoria and New South Wales to expel members over “transphobic” comments.

After an internal complaint against him, the Greens governing body found that Mr Hutton had not personally demeaned trans women, he had provided a platform.

As a result, the party suspended his membership until he deleted a Facebook post criticising the Greens and removed the offending comments made by others.

His original Facebook post, on June 21, 2022, spoke of balancing trans rights with the rights of women.

The post read: “I believe in full human rights for trans people at the same time as supporting the right of women to be safe from patriarchal oppression.”

He then condemned “authoritarian and anti-democratic” disciplinary action that had been taken against feminists for voicing their concerns within party forums.

“I’m a retired, old, burnt-out greenie activist, and I hadn’t been keeping up with all this stuff. I just responded to what I thought was a really stupid situation and an abuse of power by some people,’’ he told The Saturday Paper.

The long-running saga that led to the termination of Mr Hutton’s membership began in June 2022 with a Facebook post. Picture: Annette Dew

Mr Hutton said he did not intend to “say anything about the transgender issues themselves” but was “concerned about party democracy and the need for discussion and debate in the Greens that is both open-minded and respectful of other views”.

“Like many other party members, I have become a victim of this cult,’’ he wrote in The Australian.

“I was expelled from the party, not because I made statements that opposed key beliefs of the Greens but because I refused to censor comments on a couple of Facebook posts that asserted that men were biological males and women were biological females.

“The cult position is that people are whatever gender they define themselves as and anyone who disagrees with that position must be expelled or, if they are not party members, they should be otherwise cancelled. I was, therefore, told I had to censor all such comments from my Facebook posts. I refused on free speech grounds and so my membership was suspended, and then I was expelled when I continued to refuse.

“I join at least 40 other members that I know of who have been expelled or forced out of the party over the gender issue. Many of those expelled have been great environmental campaigners with decades of loyal service to the party. It is a purge of “green” Greens.

“People in the community are beginning to sense that something is not right in the Greens, and the party will need to work hard to calm this disquiet. The first thing the Greens need to do is analyse where their vote comes from.”

Party officials insisted “trans rights are non-negotiable human rights” in a statement on Sunday. Picture: Mark Stewart

Mr Hutton said the marriage equality referendum demonstrated that Australians are “open, tolerant and inclusive.”

“They did not, at any point, vote for the rights of children and women to be overridden,’’ he said.

“How can the Greens avoid the same sort of demise that befell the Australian Democrats? It will be very difficult. The extreme transgender/queer faction is well entrenched in the key decision-making centres of the party and those Greens who maintain a more traditional view of what green politics is all about are ignoring this and getting on with what they do in their local areas or they are keeping their heads down so they don’t become another victim of the purges.”

Mr Hutton said Greens leaders Bob Brown and Christine Milne supported his push for free speech to be restored.

“Leadership is needed. Both Bob Brown and Christine Milne, the two former great leaders of the Australian Greens, had the character and courage to tackle the issue head-on,’’ he said.

Mr Hutton said Greens leaders Bob Brown (left) and Christine Milne (right) supported his push for free speech to be restored. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

“I believe they would have demanded an end to the purges and an inquiry into how the party could better implement the green politics principle of democracy in its processes,’’ he said.

“The question is: Does the current Australian Greens leader, Larissa Waters, have the same character and courage to get the Greens out of this mess?.”

In March, 2025, Mr Hutton spoke to the several media outlets about the dispute and published more posts on Facebook that criticised what “trans extremists” in the Greens.

In the wake of these comments, Mr Hutton’s membership in the Greens was terminated amid claims his Facebook posts breached the Queensland Greens code of ethics.

“Throughout this process the former member has refused to engage fairly with the party, sought and expected special treatment and used the media to prosecute his case,” Greens convener Gemma Burden said.

“No member is above the need to treat others with respect, and seeking to weaponise internal processes to pursue personal grievances does not advance the Queensland Greens’ work on environmental, climate, economic and social justice.”

Greens leader Larissa Waters backed the expulsion stating that “trans rights are human rights” and insisting the move was backed by the membership.

“Greens members have been working hard to resolve this matter through the party’s governance processes, and to ensure that the party’s important work on environmental, climate, economic, and social justice doesn’t stop because of one man’s focus on how other people identify,” she said in a statement.

Originally published as Greens co-founder expelled from party after ‘trans and queer cult’ claim