Larissa Waters has been appointed to lead The Greens after the minor party lost three seats and its captain at the federal election.
The Queensland senator triumphed over South Australian Sarah Hanson-Young and Mehreen Faruqi from NSW.
Adam Bandt, who had led the Greens since 2020, lost his seat of Melbourne to Labor at the May 3 poll. The shock defeat ended Mr Bandt’s 15-year career in federal parliament.
His colleagues met in Melbourne on Thursday as they began to pick up the pieces.
The Greens lost three lower house seats and failed to pick up any extras at the election. However, they are confident of wielding influence in the Senate, where the party holds the balance of power.
Tim Read, who represents the Greens in the Victorian parliament, wants to focus on the positives. He says he was encouraged by a close result in the seat of Wills, which the Greens tried to snatch from Labor.
“That gives me confidence that there is growing support for the Greens,” he told AAP. “I’m also impressed by our increased Senate vote.
“The fact that the Greens senators have proven to retain their popularity and increased it, shows we’ll do well whoever is chosen.”
The Greens are left with the Queensland seat of Ryan and 11 senators following the election. Labor has at least 28 seats in the Senate and with the support of the Greens has the numbers to get legislation through the upper house.
Meanwhile, Liberal leader Sussan Ley and Nationals counterpart David Littleproud have held their first formal talks to set up a coalition agreement between the parties, which is negotiated after every election, and to discuss policies such as net zero targets.
Littleproud travelled to Ley’s home in Albury, regional NSW, for the face-to-face meeting on Thursday. It was the first of many discussions, which continue over coming days to lock in a deal.
Issues over whether the coalition keeps its nuclear policy or its net zero emissions targets by 2050 will also feature in discussions.
Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie has called for her party to have a bigger seat at the table.
While the Nationals retained nearly all of its lower house seats at the election, it lost the NSW seat of Calare to Andrew Gee, a former National who defected to serve as an independent. The coalition has won 43 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives, and has 26 seats in the Senate, with counting still continuing.
Source: AAP