Richard Di Natale has quit as leader of the Australian Greens and will leave politics by the middle of the year.
Di Natale told colleagues of his plans on Monday. All leadership positions have been spilled, and the Greens will determine their new leadership team on Tuesday.
The deputy leadership of the party in recent times has been shared by Adam Bandt and Larissa Waters, who are both logical contenders to replace the Victorian in the top job.
Bandt confirmed shortly after Di Natale’s announcement that he would seek the party leadership, and won public backing from Tasmanian Nick McKim.
I will be standing for Greens Leader.
— Adam Bandt (@AdamBandt) February 3, 2020
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.
If Bandt is successful, that would see the party leadership transferred to the lower house rather than the Senate. It is possible senators Mehreen Faruqi and Sarah Hanson-Young could also seek a leadership role.
Faruqi took to social media after Di Natale’s announcement to say she had consistently supported Greens members having a democratic say in the selection of the party leader. She said she also supported co-leaders.
“Selecting our new leader is a great opportunity to democratically involve members in the process,” Faruqi said. “The party should be doing just that for this ballot”.
The positioning references an unresolved internal debate within the Greens about giving grass roots members a say in selecting leaders – a debate that has continued unresolved for several years.
Di Natale told the party’s national conference in 2016 that the party should consider democratising leadership ballots but the model is not yet agreed. Options include the party considering a direct vote of the membership, or a split vote of members and MPs similar to Labor’s model.
The party is expected to reach a landing point over the coming months.
Di Natale confirmed his intention to move on from public life in a Facebook post on Monday morning, saying he wanted to spend more time with his children.
“My boys are nine and eleven years old now and they’ve only ever known their Dad as a busy and tired and sometimes grumpy politician,” he said. “They are growing up quickly, and I want to spend more time by their side than a relentless political schedule allows.”
Di Natale has given an undertaking to stay on for the transition and is expected to leave Canberra by the middle of the year.
In his farewell post, Di Natale said a source of considerable pride was establishing “a world leading price on carbon in partnership with the Gillard government back in 2011”. He said that example showed Australia could reduce carbon emissions and take “real action on climate change, if we work together”.
Di Natale said he remained confident Australia could move forward on climate change if people came together to demand change, and he said climate change would now be front and centre at every federal election. “The future is bright, the future is green.”
