Breaking: David Shoebridge named new Greens leader in hotly-contested ballot

Posted Wed 30 Sep 2026 at 12:37pmWed 30 Sep 2026 at 12:37pm, updated Wed 30 Sep 2026 at 12:42pmWed 30 Sep 2026 at 12:42pmDavid Shoebridge will take over from Larissa Waters. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)David Shoebridge has been announced as the new leader of the Greens, with Steph Hodgins-May as deputy. Senator Shoebridge, from NSW, emerged as the victor in a three-way contest with former deputy Mehreen Faruqi and Sarah Hanson-Young, the manager of Greens business in the Senate. The decision was made by the 11-member party room in Sydney today after the shock resignation of Larissa Waters, who on Monday revealed she was stepping aside from the role to deal with chronic kidney disease. After a rare leadership ballot for the party, which has in the past decided leaders by consensus, Senator Shoebridge won with seven votes, while Senator Hodgins-May had six votes.Senator Shoebridge is the sixth leader in the environment-focused party's history. He said he wanted the Greens to "fill the vacuum that has been left by the Labor Party rushing to the right". "We're here to beat down One Nation, and we're here to replace Labor and return hope and faith to politics," he said. Senator Shoebridge has served as a senator for New South Wales since 2022. He was a former barrister and member of the NSW parliament. Announcing a "new face" for the Greens, Senator Shoebridge said the party would take up the fight against "corporate greed", naming the gas lobby, AUKUS, artificial intelligence, and fossil fuel billionaires as issues of concern. "This is an extraordinary moment in politics and we can all feel it," he said at a press conference on Wednesday. "We can feel that politics as usual is not providing the answers that people are desperately calling for now."