Greens senator Dorinda Cox to join Labor

Australia Broadcast Center

2 days ago

Dorinda Cox will leave the Greens and join Labor's ranks in the federal Senate, citing a loss of confidence in the minor party.
The WA senator made the announcement alongside Anthony Albanese in Perth on Monday, confirming she initiated the switch and had been contemplating it for some time.
"I am very, very grateful for this opportunity and I want to thank the Labor team for welcoming me, and I've spoken to the prime minister about the work I would like to do in the future as a member of a party of government," she said.
Senator Cox, a Yamatji-Noongar woman, had been the only Indigenous member of the Greens' federal parliamentary team since Lidia Thorpe quit the party in 2023, and was the party's Indigenous Affairs spokesperson.
In that capacity, she signed onto a joint statement with colleagues last week accusing Labor's Environment Minister Murray Watt of having "spectacularly failed" after he provisionally approved an extended licence for WA's "climate-wrecking" North West Shelf gas facility.
On Monday, she told reporters it wouldn't be appropriate to make public commentary on that decision.
She told reporters she had informed Greens leader Larissa Waters of her defection "about an hour and a half" before her public announcement. Mr Albanese said he had not spoken to Senator Waters.
"The reason why Dorinda has made this decision is the same reason why all those years ago as a very young man I made the decision to join the Labor Party... That the way you make a difference is to be part of a party of government."
Last year, Senator Cox issued an apology to staff for "distress" following bullying accusations reported by Nine papers.
In the recent Greens party room meeting to elect leadership positions, Senator Cox was the only unsuccessful nominee, running against Mehreen Faruqi for deputy and Penny Allman-Payne for the deputy whip and receiving a handful of votes for each.
She was first chosen as a senator in 2021 to replace retiring Greens senator Rachel Siewert, and was elected for a six-year term in 2022.
"What I would like to achieve in my political life and what you can't do from the crossbench is make change and being in the government and alongside the wonderful team that the prime minister has, you are able to make change," she said.
The extra number for Labor in the Senate does not materially change its ability to pass legislation, which could still be achieved only with the support of either the Greens or the Coalition.
But Labor would have faced a more challenging Senate had Senator Cox gone to the crossbench instead, needing one extra vote to pass any bill with the Greens' support.
It also means the Greens and the Coalition can no longer team up to block a bill, without the support of at least one crossbencher.
Senator Cox is the second WA Senator elected in 2022 to switch parties, following Senator Fatima Payman who quit Labor's ranks to join the crossbench, after she crossed the floor to support a Greens motion on Palestinian statehood.