Source : Perth Now news
Newly minted Greens leader David Shoebridge has played down party tensions after defeated leadership aspirant Mehreen Faruqi criticised his election.
Senator Faruqi quit her role as deputy leader to unsuccessfully run for the party’s top job on Wednesday.
Senator Shoebridge’s running mate Steph Hodgins-May also won the deputy leadership.
Following the ballot, Senator Faruqi took to social media to claim she did not recontest the deputy leadership because she believed she could better pursue “radical action … outside the constraints of the leadership team”.
She congratulated the new leadership team, instead saying she was “disappointed” and shared “members’ frustration” that the vote was restricted to the Greens’ 11 parliamentarians rather than opened up to members.
Senator Shoebridge on Thursday denied there was a rift and praised Senator Faruqi’s ability to “cut through”.
“Every single member of the federal Greens party room is a basically a frontbencher – taking on hard portfolios, making those portfolios work, contributing to the broader goals,” he told News24.
“And I would hope that every single member of our federal party room feels like they have the opportunity to do that.”
He said “many people … recognise (Senator Faruqi’s) political courage” and that he expected nothing to change.
Senator Shoebridge also defended his election, saying the vote followed the rules as they stood.
However, he acknowledged “an ongoing discussion in the party about ensuring that members have a real say in choosing the leadership team”.
“I’m a believer in grassroots democracy,” he said.
“I’m a believer in … pushing power down to the membership.”
Senator Shoebridge added that he would “absolutely” support a reform to his party’s voting process and signalled it could happen at the next scheduled leadership vote following the 2028 federal election.
“There is a guaranteed spill after every single federal election, and there’s a leadership choice,” he said.
“So we want to make sure that the timetable is in place and members have that say.”
