Greens new leader Larissa Waters, deputy Mehreen Faruqi double down on Gaza

Newly elected Greens leader Larissa Waters and deputy Mehreen Faruqi insist the party will maintain its focus on the Gaza war, as both senators said they would continue to condemn “genocide” in the war-torn territory.

The party’s 12 members spent almost two hours in a meeting on Thursday to decide the leadership structure after former leader Adam Bandt lost his Melbourne seat to Labor at the election on May 3.

Newly elected Greens leader Larissa Waters in Melbourne on Thursday.Credit: Penny Stephens

The Greens lost three of its four House of Representatives seats – including the stunning defeat of Bandt – at the poll, as its national primary vote flatlined and party elders called into question the Greens’ “hypermilitant” agenda and the way it communicates with Australian voters.

But after the meeting to decide the leadership on Thursday, Waters and Faruqi warned the Albanese government that the minor party would not take a backward step, seeking to deliver an ultimatum to Labor about who it should work with in the Senate.

Waters, Faruqi, and fellow Greens senators Sarah Hanson-Young, Nick McKim and Penny Allman-Payne walked with arms linked to the press conference, as Waters said she felt strengthened by the sentiment in the room and called for action on the climate crisis, housing and the Israel-Palestine conflict.

(From left) Nick McKim, Mehreen Faruqi, Larissa Waters, Sarah Hanson-Young and Penny Allman-Payne walk to the press conference in Melbourne on Thursday. Credit: Penny Stephens

“We will always be there calling out atrocities, calling out a genocide and standing strong on social justice and human rights,” Waters said.

“The Labor Party have a choice. They can work with us … and help people and protect nature, or they can choose to work with the Coalition. They’re going to need to pick because they don’t have the numbers in the Senate to pass the legislation that they want to work on.”

Faruqi shared Waters’ views, arguing migrant and multicultural communities supported the party’s strong stand against “the genocide in Gaza”.

“To the right-wing media, to the billionaires, to the big corporations and to the Albanese government, this is our message: We are not going to take a step backwards,” she said.

“On climate, on the environment, on housing and for justice, for Palestine, our voters have put us there to fight for people and the planet, and that is exactly what we will be doing … this is a moment for demanding more, not less.”

Hanson-Young was considered to be a contender for the leadership positions, but said she decided not to contest because she believed the team elected was the best offering. She will continue in her role as Greens manager of business.

“This team provides stability. This team provides the skills and the grunt that we are going to need,” she said.

Waters was elected unopposed. Senator Dorinda Cox ran for deputy leader, but Faruqi won that vote of 9 to 3. McKim will hold the position of party whip and Allman-Payne will be party room chair and deputy whip.

Cox was the first party member to leave the meeting, appearing to be consoled by a Greens staff member.

The party standing by its agenda from the previous parliament goes against recommendations made by senior party figures last week after Bandt’s shock defeat and the loss of two other lower house MPs.

Co-founder of the national Greens Drew Hutton last week slammed the party for shifting focus from its environmental roots.

“The Greens have experimented with what I would call a hypermilitant approach during the last three years,” Hutton told this masthead last week.

“What will broaden their base is if they lose this terrible way they have of expressing their moral superiority over everyone else and their refusal to talk meaningfully with ordinary Australians.”

Ian Cohen, the first Greens member elected to the NSW parliament, urged the Greens to revive its focus on conservation, arguing “the environment must be a priority”.

Waters said she had nothing negative to say about Bandt, but would lead the party differently.

“I’m a different person to Adam, I’ll take a different approach,” she said.

“I lead a really strong team, and we are committed to delivering … We will be firm but constructive under this government and any future government.”

A Queensland senator, Waters was first elected in 2010 and has been seen widely as a moderate voice in the party. She was co-deputy leader of the party from 2015 to 2022.

Before her time in parliament, Waters was a community environmental lawyer at the Environmental Defender’s Office in Queensland from 2002 to 2011.

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