2020 Australian Greens leadership election

2020 Australian Greens leadership election

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Leadership election

Candidate Adam Bandt Caucus vote Unopposed Seat Melbourne (Vic)

Leader before election Richard Di Natale Elected Leader Adam Bandt

Senate and first co-deputy leadership election

Candidate Larissa Waters Caucus vote Unopposed Seat Senator for Qld

Second co-deputy leadership election

Candidate Nick McKim Mehreen Faruqi Sarah Hanson-Young Caucus vote Won Lost Lost Seat Senator for Tas Senator for NSW Senator for SA

Deputy Leaders before election Adam Bandt and Larissa Waters Elected Deputy Leaders Nick McKim and Larissa Waters

The 2020 Australian Greens leadership election was held on 4 February 2020 to elect the leader of the Australian Greens. ^[1] The election took place after Richard Di Natale announced his resignation as leader and his intention to resign from parliament. ^{[2] [3]}

Adam Bandt, the member for Melbourne, was elected to the leadership unopposed, becoming the first Greens leader to sit in the House of Representatives and not the Senate. ^[4]

In the deputy leadership contest, Larissa Waters was returned unopposed as the party's leader in the Senate. ^[4] The second deputy leadership position was contested by Mehreen Faruqi, Sarah Hanson-Young and Nick McKim, with McKim emerging successful. ^[4]

The leadership of the Greens is decided by consensus within the party room (or a party room vote if consensus cannot be reached). ^{[5] [6]}

Candidates

Leader

Declared

Candidate			Electorate	Announced	Portfolio(s)
		Adam Bandt	Melbourne (Vic)	3 February 2020 [7] [8]	Co-Deputy Leader of the Greens

Deputy leader

Declared

Candidate			Electorate	Announced	Portfolio(s)
		Mehreen Faruqi	Senator for New South Wales	4 February 2020
		Sarah Hanson-Young	Senator for South Australia	4 February 2020
		Nick McKim	Senator for Tasmania	4 February 2020
		Larissa Waters	Senator for Queensland	3 February 2020 [7] [9]	Co-Deputy Leader of the Greens

Leadership plebiscite

2020 Australian Greens
leadership plebiscite

13 April–11 May 2020

Following the leadership vote, the rank-and-file membership of the Greens voted in a plebiscite about the party's leadership election process. ^[10] Voting began on 13 April 2020 and concluded on 11 May 2020. ^[11]

The formal campaign in favour of a "one member, one vote" model began in April 2018 with the formation of the "Greens for Democratic Leadership" group, led by Brisbane councillor Jonathan Sri. ^{[12] [13]}

Options

Greens members were presented with three options for conducting leadership elections: ^[5]

• One Member, One Vote (OMOV): "Australian Greens members vote with all votes counting equally in an optional preferential ballot. Candidates for leader must have their nomination supported by a threshold of 20% of Party Room or two MPs including themselves (whichever is the greater)"
• 50/50 Model: "Australian Greens members vote as a group and Federal MPs vote as a group, with each group of votes given a weighting of 50% when combined towards the overall result"
• Federal MPs Selection Model: "Federal MPs continue to vote to decide who will be the leader either by consensus decision-making or a vote"

Results

Although both OMOV and the 50/50 Model received more votes than the present "federal MPs selection model" system, a two-thirds majority was required to force a change. ^[11]

For a Greens plebiscite to be valid, a turnout of 20% is required. ^[14] The leadership plebiscite had 6,065 voters out of 13,143 eligible members – a turnout of 46.15%. ^[11]

Question	Options	OMOV	50/50	Fed. MPs	Abstained
Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
Question 1	One Member, One Vote or Federal MPs Selection Model	3,721	62.00	—	2,281	38.00	63	1.03
Question 2	50/50 Model or Federal MPs Selection Model	—	3,510	62.56	2,101	37.44	454	7.48
Question 3	One Member, One Vote or 50/50 Model	2,902	49.05	3,014	50.95	—	149	2.45

Endorsements

One Member, One Vote

List of One Member, One Vote endorsements

Internal Greens groups

• Greens for Democratic Leadership

Members of the Australian Parliament

• Mehreen Faruqi – Senator for New South Wales ^[15]

Members of state/territory parliaments

• Michael Berkman – MP for Maiwar in the Queensland Legislative Assembly ^[15]
• Abigail Boyd – Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council ^[16]
• Tammy Franks – Member of the South Australian Legislative Council ^[15]
• Jenny Leong – MP for Newtown in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly ^[17]
• Jamie Parker – MP for Balmain in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly ^[16]
• David Shoebridge – Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council ^[16]

Local government councillors

• Tim Baxter – Councillor of the City of Port Phillip for Canal Ward ^[16]
• Amanda Cohn – Deputy Mayor of the City of Albury ^[16]
• Linda Eisler – Councillor of the City of Canterbury Bankstown for Canterbury Ward ^[16]
• Tom Kiat – Councillor of Inner West Council for Ashfield Ward ^[16]
• Rohan Leppert – Councillor of the City of Melbourne ^[16]
• Jonathan Sri – Councillor of the City of Brisbane for The Gabba Ward ^[18]
• Danielle Wheeler – Councillor of the City of Hawkesbury ^[16]

Former members of the Australian Parliament

• Andrew Bartlett – Senator for Queensland (2017–2018) ^[19]
• Scott Ludlam – Senator for Western Australia (2008–2017) ^[15]
• Lee Rhiannon – Senator for New South Wales (2011–2018) ^[20]

Former members of state/territory parliaments

• Sylvia Hale – Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council (2003–2010) ^[16]

Former local government councillors

• Therese Doyle – Councillor of the Municipality of Concord (1995–2000) and the City of Newcastle (2012–2017) ^{[16] [21]}
• Cathy Peters – Councillor of Marrickville Council ^[16]
• Leigh Williams – Councillor of the City of Hawkesbury (1999–2016) ^[16]

Other figures

• Penny Allman-Payne – Queensland Greens convenor ^[16]
• Alex Bhathal – Candidate for Batman (2001, 2004, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2018) ^[22]
• Max Chandler-Mather – Candidate for Griffith (2019) ^[16]
• Emma Davidson – Lead candidate for Murrumbidgee (2020) ^{[16] [23]}
• Tim Hollo – Executive Director of the Green Institute ^{[15] [16]}
• Amy MacMahon – Candidate for South Brisbane (2017) ^[24]
• Emerald Moon – Candidate for Bowman (2019) ^[25]
• Polly Morgan – Candidate for Malvern (2018) ^[16]
• Apsara Sabaratnam – Secretary of Multicultural Greens Victoria ^[16]

50/50 Model

List of 50/50 Model endorsements

Former leaders of the Australian Greens

• Bob Brown (2005–2012) ^[26]
• Christine Milne (2012–2015) ^[26]
• Richard Di Natale (2015–2020) ^[26]

Members of the Australian Parliament

• Nick McKim – Senator for Tasmania ^[27]
• Peter Whish-Wilson – Senator for Tasmania ^[28]

References

1. "Di Natale Resigns Parliamentary Leadership". Australian Greens. 3 February 2020. Archived from the original on 4 May 2025. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
2. Ireland, Judith (3 February 2020). "Greens leader Richard Di Natale quits leadership, will leave Senate". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 26 February 2025. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
3. Murphy, Katharine (3 February 2020). "Richard Di Natale resigns as Greens leader and announces he will leave politics". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 November 2024. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
4. Dalzell, Stephanie (4 February 2020). "Adam Bandt elected unopposed as federal Greens leader; Larissa Waters and Nick McKim as deputies". ABC News. Archived from the original on 18 April 2025. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
5. "Plebiscite: Method of electing the Australian Greens Leader" (PDF). Australian Greens. April 2020. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 May 2025. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
6. Knott, Matthew (9 May 2025). "'It's uncomfortable': Greens in uncharted territory as leadership contenders jostle". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 9 May 2025. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
7. Maiden, Samantha (3 February 2020). "Richard Di Natale quits as Greens leader". The New Daily. Archived from the original on 7 August 2024. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
8. Adam Bandt [@AdamBandt] (3 February 2020). "I will be standing for Greens Leader. Thank you Richard for your leadership and service to Aust. I look forward to talking with my colleagues about how we share leadership across the House & Senate as we fight the climate emergency and inequality with a Green New Deal" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 13 May 2025. Retrieved 13 May 2025– via Twitter.
9. Larissa Waters [@larissawaters] (3 February 2020). "My dear friend @RichardDiNatale has done an outstanding job for nearly 5yrs, leading with compassion & reason. He'll be sorely missed. Our party room is full of ppl motivated to fix the world. They're the best colleagues. I'm seeking their support to remain Deputy Greens Leader" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 13 May 2025. Retrieved 13 May 2025– via Twitter.
10. Holloway, Josh (5 February 2020). "Adam Bandt has won leadership of the Greens so where are they heading?". ABC News. Archived from the original on 5 April 2025. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
11. Harris, Rob (22 April 2020). "Old Greens wounds reopen as members vote on directly electing leader". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 5 May 2025. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
12. Karp, Paul (11 April 2018). "Greens MPs cautiously welcome push for members to elect federal leader". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
13. Murphy, Katharine; Karp, Paul (12 June 2019). "Greens signal shift to give party members a say in choosing federal leader". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 September 2024. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
14. "BREAKING: The results of the Australian Greens member plebiscite on election of Parliamentary leader". Facebook. Greens for Democratic Leadership. 12 May 2020. Archived from the original on 14 May 2025. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
15. Berkman, Michael; Faruqi, Mehreen; Franks, Tammy; Hollo, Tim; Ludlam, Scott (13 April 2020). "The Greens are founded on grassroots democracy – the leadership vote should be no exception". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 17 December 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
16. "Open Letter Supporting One Member One Vote". Greens for Democratic Leadership. 12 April 2020. Archived from the original on 14 May 2025. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
17. "Greens members, on Monday you will get a ballot asking you your views about how we determine our parliamentary leader". Facebook. Jenny Leong. 11 April 2020. Archived from the original on 14 May 2025. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
18. "So how much power does the leader of the Australian Greens actually have?". Jonathan Sri. 13 April 2020. Archived from the original on 7 March 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
19. Harris, Rob; Koslowski, Max (14 November 2019). "Former Greens senator says party must fast-track plans to give members more power". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 15 August 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
20. "One Member One Vote – only democratic option for a Greens Party". Lee Rhiannon. 13 April 2020. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
21. "Therese Doyle, Candidate for Shortland". Australian Greens. Archived from the original on 14 May 2025. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
22. Alex Bhathal [@alexbhathal] (11 April 2020). "The 20% threshold is a clever failsafe and OMOV is the only option for a Party which prides itself on being subsidiarist/grassroots" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 14 May 2025. Retrieved 14 May 2025– via Twitter.
23. "ACT Greens announce lead candidates for 2020 election as climate becomes Australians' number 1 concern". ACT Greens. 6 December 2019. Archived from the original on 4 May 2025. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
24. Amy MacMahon [@amymacsouthbris] (11 April 2020). "I'll be voting for One Member One Vote" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 14 May 2025. Retrieved 14 May 2025– via Twitter.
25. "Remember, from Monday 13 April Greens members can vote for one member one vote!". Facebook. Greens for Democratic Leadership. 11 April 2020. Archived from the original on 14 May 2025. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
26. Brown, Bob; Milne, Christine; Di Natale, Richard (11 April 2020). "As former Greens leaders, we ask members not to shut the party room out of leadership votes". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 16 August 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
27. Nick McKim [@NickMcKim] (11 April 2020). "Why the Greens party room should have a say in who leads it by people who've been there and done that" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 14 May 2025. Retrieved 14 May 2025– via Twitter.
28. Peter Whish-Wilson [@SenatorSurfer] (13 April 2020). "Today Green members received emails to choose the voting system to elect our party room leader. I strongly agree with Adam Bandt & Richard Di Natale that elected MP's should not be locked out of having an important and equal say in choosing their leader" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 14 May 2025. Retrieved 14 May 2025– via Twitter.