Greens Senator Richard Di Natale’s final message

Outgoing Greens leader Richard Di Natale has bid farewell to parliament and he’s used his final speech to point out Canberra’s failures.

Outgoing Greens leader Richard Di Natale has called for a reset of national politics as he today bid farewell to the federal parliament.

The Victorian, who is in coronavirus lockdown, will made his valedictory speech via a video link to the upper house.

“Now older and greyer and after a tough decade in parliament, my faith is a little shaken but not broken,” he said.

“Politics has become uglier, nastier and more divided.”

Senator Di Natale was elected in 2010 and became party leader in 2015, witnessing six prime ministers.

“I leave this place knowing that despite the turmoil of the past decade, our nation is a better place because of what we Greens have achieved,” he said.

“But I also leave knowing that successive parliaments have failed to achieve lasting reforms on the things that matter – climate change, homelessness, job insecurity, mental illness, protecting our precious environment.”

He again called for corporate political donations to be abolished, and for more women, young people and those from different cultural and economic backgrounds to represent Australians in the parliament.

Senator Richard Di Natale with his partner Lucy and sons, Luca and Ben, after announcing he will leave parliament. Picture: Gary Ramage

The passionate Victorian also revealed how he thought a call from Senator Larissa Waters about the citizenship scandal was a “joke”.

He said the citizenship scandal that saw the Greens lose senators Scott Ludlam and Senator Waters was one of his “toughest times in this place”.

“It was an archaic, anachronistic section of our constitution that must be changed but the legal advice was clear,” he said.

Senator Di Natale said he leaves politics proud of securing $100 million in funding for Landcare as part of the Backpacker Tax, as well as laws that increased penalties on corporations for tax avoidance and profit shifting.

“A decade’s worth of Greens bills for a National Integrity Commission or ICAC to root out corruption were rejected outright by both sides for years before we finally won,” he said.

“Medicinal cannabis would still be illegal in Australia if it wasn’t for the Greens.”

The former Greens leader in February announced he would bow out on decade-long political career to spend more time with his family.

An emotional Senator Di Natale paid tribute to them, his parents, colleagues and Greens supporters.

Adam Bandt was later appointed the party’s new federal leader.

New Victorian Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe is expected to be sworn in to parliament come October.