Latest news with #ElizabethWatsonBrown
The Guardian
14-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
The Greens are about to choose a new leader. Here's how it works – and who could be Bandt's successor
The Greens will choose a new leader after Adam Bandt unexpectedly lost the seat of Melbourne at the federal election. The party's 11 senators and their sole remaining lower house MP – Elizabeth Watson-Brown, who held the Brisbane seat of Ryan – will decide on Thursday who should become the minor party's fifth federal leader, with whoever claims the top job expected to address the media in the afternoon. Senators Sarah Hanson-Young, Larissa Waters and Mehreen Faruqi are seen as possible successors. The Greens are not alone in turning over a new leadership leaf this week, with the Liberals electing a new leader in Sussan Ley, while Matt Canavan lost his tilt at the Nationals' top job. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email But unlike their major party counterparts, those involved in choosing the new Greens leader are unusually tight-lipped – ignoring or politely declining calls and texts from the media. If there is only one person vying for each of the top positions – leader, deputy and party whip – there must be consensus from the party room for that person to be chosen. If there is not consensus, another challenger would need to put themselves forward. If there is more than one challenger for a role, a secret ballot is held, and the person with the most votes is selected. Sarah Hanson-Young – the longest-serving Greens member in the federal parliament – is among the contenders. The South Australian senator has leadership ambitions, a number of Greens insiders said, and is thought to be canvassing support for the role. The party's environment spokesperson is seen as a pragmatist and able to work with the major parties – as noted by those watching her work with Labor's former environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, on the now-dumped environment protection agency model. New South Wales senator Mehreen Faruqi is seen as another potential future leader, with a strong passion for social justice issues. The party's current deputy leader was outspoken on Gaza in the most recent term of parliament, and is supported by the more activist NSW branches. Faruqi joined the upper house in 2018 after the former NSW Greens senator Lee Rhiannon stepped down upon losing the party's top Senate ticket spot. Faruqi was re-elected as senator at the 2019 federal election and again in 2025. This week, the Greens' First Nations network and the Young Greens both endorsed motions supporting Faruqi as the party's federal leader, despite party members having no official say in the matter. Larissa Waters is seen as the reluctant leader – a long-serving Queensland senator and Senate leader for the Greens who could work as a unifying figure in the same way as Bandt. First elected in 2011, Waters briefly resigned in July 2017 during the parliamentary eligibility crisis due to discovering she held Canadian citizenship. She was re-elected in September 2018. Party insiders say she could be a fresh face who can carefully tread both environmental and social justice pathways for the minor party in the lead-up to the next election. Waters was reticent about her interest in serving as the party's head on Tuesday. 'We've got a process to go through and I won't be making any comments about that,' Waters said, according to the ABC. 'I'm afraid you will just have to wait until Thursday.' Hanson-Young, Faruqi and Waters did not respond to requests for comment. Acting leader and party whip Nick McKim, a Tasmanian senator since 2015, is understood to not be seeking the leadership. The Greens have previously had co-deputy leaders, with Waters having served alongside Bandt, McKim and former senator Scott Ludlam at various times between 2015 and 2022. Since June 2022, Faruqi served as the sole deputy leader to Bandt but a job-sharing arrangement could allow for another pathway forward to reach consensus. Green parties in New Zealand, Canada and the UK have had co-leaders in recent years, though they have no official connection or affiliation with the Australian party. While leadership contests are common in the major parties, it's a process this generation of the progressive party is not familiar with. Since party forefather Bob Brown's retirement in June 2012, there have only been three federal leaders of the Greens – including Bandt. Each time, there's been an informal succession plan in place. A leader makes a decision to retire when another rising star is ready to take the mantle. That first star was Christine Milne, who took over from Brown in 2013 until her retirement in 2015, when Victorian senator Richard di Natale led the party. Bandt was also elected as party leader unopposed in 2020 after Di Natale vacated his Senate seat, leading the party until his surprise defeat to Labor's Sarah Witty. Di Natale, Brown and Milne would not be drawn on who should be the next leader.
ABC News
13-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Greens claim single lower house election win in Brisbane seat of Ryan
The Greens party has declared victory in the inner-Brisbane seat of Ryan with Elizabeth Watson-Brown the only party member in the lower house.
News.com.au
13-05-2025
- Politics
- News.com.au
Federal election 2025: Elizabeth Watson-Brown wins Ryan for Greens
Greens MP Elizabeth Watson-Brown has officially retained the inner Brisbane seat of Ryan, giving her embattled radical-left party a lonely victory following its lower house wipe-out in the May 3 federal election. The Greens entered the election with four seats in the lower house of parliament, but will return with just one following Ms Watson-Brown's close win over Coalition rival Maggie Forrest. The Sky News Decision Desk called the seat for Ms Watson-Brown on Monday. She secured about 53 per cent of the votes after preferences with a 0.5 per cent swing in her favour. Ms Watson-Brown on Tuesday said the Greens were ready 'push Labor' for 'stronger action on the climate, housing and cost-of-living crises'. 'I want to thank the people of Ryan for again putting their trust in me to be their strong, independent voice in parliament and for helping to keep (former Opposition Leader Peter) Dutton out,' she said on her victory. 'This term we have one of the most progressive Senates we've ever had, an opportunity for real progressive reform. There is no excuse now for Labor to resist real reform to help people and nature. 'The Greens are ready to push Labor to take stronger action on the climate, housing and cost-of-living crises.' Ryan, which takes in Brisbane's leafy inner and outer western suburbs, was long considered a safe blue-ribbon Liberal electorate. Ms Watson-Brown snatched it from the Liberals in 2022. The Greens copped a shellacking on May 3, with long-serving Greens leader Adam Bandt booted from his seat of Melbourne along with Brisbane MPs Max Chandler-Mather and Stephen Bates. The Greens now consist of 11 Senators in the Upper House and Ms Watson-Brown in the Lower House. Anthony Albanese secured a crushing victory for Labor, with the party winning at least 93 seats as of Monday, compared to 43 for the Coalition. There are now just three seats in doubt: Calwell and Flinders in Victoria, and Longman in Queensland. In Calwell, Labor candidate Basem Abdo is ahead of Coalition rival Usman Ghani. In Flinders, Liberal MP Zoe McKenzie is ahead of independent challenger Ben Smith. Ms McKenzie leads with 4572 votes with 90.0 per cent of the vote counted. In Longman, LNP member Terry Young is leading Labor challenger Rhiannyn Douglas. Mr Young leads with just 196 votes with 85.4 per cent of the vote counted. On Monday, the Decision Desk called the seat of Bradfield, in Sydney, for the Liberals. Labor has clung onto Bean in the ACT and Bullwinkel in Western Australia. Former teal independent member for Goldstein Zoe Daniel, meanwhile, has not yet conceded her seat to victorious Liberal Tim Wilson. In a post to X from May 9, Ms Daniel said she would not concede until postals and pre-poll votes were counted. 'The AEC has not yet declared the seat,' she said. 'Please respect the process and voters until a definitive position is clear.'
ABC News
13-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Senator Larissa Waters won't rule out leadership tilt as Greens claim Ryan
Queensland Senator Larissa Waters won't rule out a tilt at the Greens leadership, as the party claims their first and only election victory. Elizabeth Watson-Brown will now be the sole Greens MP in the House of Representatives after the party failed to reclaim any of its other lower house seats. Asked about whether she would run to become Greens leader after Adam Bandt lost his seat of Melbourne, Senator Waters wouldn't discount it. "We've got a process to go through and I won't be making any comments about that," she said. "I'm afraid you will just have to wait until Thursday." Ms Watson-Brown, who first won Ryan in 2022, will retain the electorate with a two-party preferred swing towards her, despite a drop in her primary vote. She said she was going to "desperately miss" her former colleagues Adam Bandt, Max Chandler-Mather, and Stephen Bates. "It might be a little bit lonely on the floor [of the House of Representatives]," Ms Watson-Brown said. "That is a pretty difficult place. You can be feeling a bit lonely there when you're being screamed at by 149 other people. "There's nobody else now to take that buffer. But I've got to remind people the Greens party room is our strength."
SBS Australia
12-05-2025
- Politics
- SBS Australia
Greens MP Elizabeth Watson-Brown predicted to retain Brisbane seat
The Greens are predicted to retain one seat in the House of Representatives, with analysts telling SBS News Elizabeth Watson-Brown will hold her seat in Ryan. The Brisbane electorate had been a battle between Watson-Brown and Liberal National Maggie Forrest, but is predicted to go to the Greens, according to polling group Redbridge. Watson-Brown was first elected to parliament in 2022. She is a long-term resident of Brisbane's inner west suburb of St Lucia and ran an architectural practice for 21 years before entering politics. This is a developing story and this article will be updated.
