(L-R) David Shoebridge and Steph Hodgins-May pose for a photograph after announcing the new leadership team of the Australian Greens, September 30, 2026. (AAP Image/George Chan)
New South Wales senator and former barrister David Shoebridge has been elected to lead the Australian Greens, with senator Steph Hodgins-May as his deputy, in a move the party says will offer “fresh leadership” and an answer to the rise of One Nation and the far right.
Shoebridge and Hodgins-May were elected as the new leaders of the party through a vote on Wednesday, following the announcement that Senator Larissa Waters’ was stepping down to focus on her recovery from kidney disease.
Shoebridge is described in a Greens media release as a “lawyer, campaigner and parliamentarian known for fearlessly holding power to account” whose political focus has been on fighting corruption and big businesses.
Hodgins-May, meanwhile, has a pre-politics background working with Greenpeace and Pacific Island communities to push back against some of the world’s biggest polluters, including the fossil fuel industry.
“For our supporters, members, and all those relying on the Greens to fight for you, I want you to know that we are ready to fight the billionaires, the big polluters and everyone trying to turn us against each other while they hoard wealth and power,” Shoebridge said on Wednesday in a statement.
“The ultra-wealthy and powerful have enough people fighting for them. Our job is to fight for you.
“We are not here to manage a broken system. We are here to replace it.”
In a joint statement published on Facebook, the two new leaders said the answer to the rise of One Nation and the far right was in “making people’s lives better with real economic and environmental security.”
“It is as simple as a mean before school, as clear as no new coal or gas, and as challenging as holding back the wave of US billionaire tech bros and their vampire AI data centres.
“This will mean making the Greens a bigger mass movement and upholding the grassroots pillar the party was founded on,” the statement says.
The change of leadership is the second in under two years, with Waters taking the helm in May 2025 following a shock federal election shake-up, which saw party leader and climate warrior Adam Bandt lose his Melbourne seat, despite winning the popular vote.
The party’s post-election presence in federal parliament – despite winning the largest national Greens vote in history – was also whittled down to one MP in the House of Representatives, leading to criticism that the party has “lost its way” or become an “insular political cult.”
Waters, herself a lawyer turned federal Senator, said at the time that the party remained dedicated to its core “green” values while also being able to represent voters on broader social and global issues.
“I am a different person [to Adam Bandt] and I bring a different style,” Waters told ABC News Breakfast at the time. “I really want to get outcomes. I really want to work with the current government to try to improve peoples’ lives and protect the planet.
“We’ll look at everything on its merits, but we are now in the sole balance of power in the Senate, so the government does have a choice.
“They can work with the Coalition, you know … keep opening new coal mines and you know, see the planet just continue to burn, or they can work with the Greens – and we want to see action to protect nature.
“Climate and nature is at our core, and as an environmental lawyer, certainly that what … drove me to want to get into politics and try to help fix things, but we’ve got to make sure that people have their daily needs met,” Waters said.
But with Waters stepping aside and a new team in charge, the willingness to negotiate with Labor appears to have worn thin.
“We do not seek to reform Labor, but to replace them,” the Facebook statement says.
“Labor has proven they can’t stop One Nation because they made the conditions for them to thrive in.
“Staring down the climate crisis, war, greed and an ever more unsure future, the Greens will not stop fighting.”
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