Long-time NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge will run for a Senate seat at the next federal election after winning a preselection race.
In a statewide vote of 2263 members, Mr Shoebridge beat fellow candidates Amanda Cohn and Rachael Jacobs to lead the NSW Greens' Senate ticket.
The former barrister turned politician will join sitting Senator Mehreen Faruqi in Canberra if he receives enough formal votes to gain one quota.
Mr Shoebridge has served in the NSW upper house since 2010 and is the party's spokesman for workers' rights, energy and Aboriginal justice.
He will stay in the NSW legislative council for now, saying his work on First Nations and climate justice, fairness and equity remains unfinished.
"With the federal election date still undecided, I have plenty more to do as a state MP, and will continue this work with passion and commitment," Mr Shoebridge said in a statement on Sunday.
His questions during a NSW parliamentary hearing last week brought to light the previously unreported death of an Indigenous woman at Silverwater Women's Prison on March 5.
Mr Shoebridge criticised the failure to notify the public, suggesting the state government's "new policy of secrecy only adds to the growing concern about First Nations deaths in custody".
