2020 Australian Greens leadership election
Australian political party election
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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]
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4 February 2020
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Leadership election | |||||||||||||||||
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Senate and first co-deputy leadership election | |||||||||||||||||
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Second co-deputy leadership election | |||||||||||||||||
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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) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) |
Adam Bandt | Melbourne (Vic) | 3 February 2020[7][8] | ||
Deputy leader
Declared
| Candidate | Electorate | Announced | Portfolio(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Mehreen Faruqi | Senator for New South Wales | 4 February 2020 | ||
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Sarah Hanson-Young | Senator for South Australia | 4 February 2020 | ||
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Nick McKim | Senator for Tasmania | 4 February 2020 | ||
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Larissa Waters | Senator for Queensland | 3 February 2020[7][9] | ||
Leadership plebiscite
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13 April–11 May 2020
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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 | N/a | 2,281 | 38.00 | 63 | 1.03 |
| Question 2 | 50/50 Model or Federal MPs Selection Model | N/a | 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 | N/a | 149 | 2.45 |
Endorsements
One Member, One Vote
Internal Greens groups
- Greens for Democratic Leadership
Members of the Australian Parliament
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 – 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
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