Shoebridge Takes Greens Leadership in 7-4 Party-Room Vote

David Shoebridge is the new leader of the Australian Greens after winning Wednesday's party-room ballot.

The New South Wales senator defeated Mehreen Faruqi by seven votes to four in the final ballot, after a three-way contest that also included Sarah Hanson-Young Politico. Hanson-Young received two votes and was eliminated in the first round PS News. Shoebridge initially won six of the 11 votes on offer The Guardian. A party-room ballot means only the party's federal MPs and senators vote, like a board voting for its chair.

That arithmetic reflects the Greens party room as it now stands. The vote was decided by the party's 10 senators and sole lower house MP SBS. The September 2026 ballot was an unprecedented ballot ABC.

Steph Hodgins-May was elected deputy leader alongside Shoebridge. The first-term Victorian senator ran on a joint ticket with Shoebridge as his deputy, so they stood as a pair ABC. The result dislodged Faruqi as deputy leader Politico.

The vacancy follows the departure of Larissa Waters, who stepped down as leader due to illness ABC. Waters became leader in May 2025. Faruqi was elected deputy leader in May 2025. Hanson-Young served as manager of business in the Senate under Waters, the role that handles Senate timing and tactics.

Shoebridge is a former corporate lawyer, former councillor from Woollahra in Sydney's eastern suburbs, and state upper house MP The Guardian. He came to the leadership with a blunt pitch. "The Greens need to seize this moment because politics demands it of us," he said. He added the Greens were "not here to reform the Labor party. We are here to replace the Labor party".

Faruqi did not hide her view of the outcome. She said she was "disappointed the party chose another direction". Shoebridge signalled he would take a more combative approach to One Nation and the Labor government.

In my view, the language matters more than the margin here. A leader elected on a joint ticket, by a party room of 11, who talks openly about replacement rather than influence is setting a different negotiating posture. Labor ministers are used to dealing with a Greens leadership that bargains hard but ultimately bargains. The test will be whether "combative" means fewer deals, or just louder ones.

The broader context here is leverage. With only one member in the House of Reps, the Greens' power lives almost entirely in the Senate. A leader who picks fights with both Labor and One Nation is betting that clear differentiation wins more votes than transactional wins in the chamber. That is a familiar argument inside the Greens. On Wednesday, it won.