What Australia Needs Now from the Greens

David Shoebridge’s election as Greens leader could be good news for Australia. He brings intellectual rigour and a willingness to challenge dysfunction and abuse of power. I also saw something of his character in November 2023, when he visited me during my #ClimateHungerStrike outside Parliament House. He sat down beside me on the grass and struck me as sincere and compassionate.

That encounter stayed with me. I’d like more Australians to experience that side of him.

My first vote almost 40 years ago went to Labor because my Mum suggested that when I asked. After that, Bob Brown and the Greens had my primary vote for decades. But then credible community independents emerged, and I switched instinctively and happily. My values hadn’t changed. I recognised something in their approach that I’d been missing.

I’m a social democrat. I believe in strong public services, a fair economy, environmental responsibility and human dignity. Labor is long gone was the place where people with those convictions are supposed to go.

The Greens have many policies I support. Real climate action. Protecting nature. Affordable housing. Challenging the enormous waste and strategic dependence of AUKUS. Speaking the truth on the genocide in Gaza. These are issues that deserve a serious hearing beyond the party’s existing supporters.

But worthwhile policies don’t automatically earn people’s trust. And Australia’s political landscape has changed radically in the past few months. September’s Newspoll put One Nation on 30 per cent and the Greens on 13. Roy Morgan’s latest fortnightly poll put them on 25.5 and 15 per cent respectively. Both placed One Nation ahead of the Coalition on primary votes.

The Greens can no-longer assume they’re Australia’s principal alternative to the established parties. Or a safety net in the Senate to protect us from rogue governments. One Nation has overtaken them by a considerable margin. Yes, polls aren’t election results. But dismissing that warning would be a serious mistake.

My concern is that too often the Greens project anger and judgement. People who broadly share their concerns can be made to feel morally suspect because they disagree on something, use the wrong language or don’t fit expectations. Genuine inclusion means making room for people who haven’t already passed your ideological entrance exam.

Yes, there’s plenty to be angry about. I understand that because I’m angry too. But relentless anger wears away optimism, hope and our willingness to trust each other. Australians need opportunities to come together and do something useful.

What we need from the Greens is active hope. In politics, that means explaining how things can improve, inviting people to participate and demonstrating that kindness and collective action can achieve something. Include people and give them a reason to believe their effort matters.

I recently saw a video of Zohran Mamdani making latkes and celebrating Hanukkah with Jewish families. It captured something of that spirit. A Muslim politician joining a Jewish people in cooking and celebration. Ordinary human warmth, publicly expressed. One friendly gathering can’t resolve deep political disagreements. But it shows that religious difference needn’t prevent friendship, respect or shared joy. Australia needs more of that.

It’s also what I appreciate in progressive community-based independents like David Pocock, Allegra Spender, Kate Chaney and Sophie Scamps: the sense that people can be heard and respected while difficult issues are discussed seriously.

David Shoebridge has shown that he can take the intellectual fight into Parliament: expose weak arguments, scrutinise spending and demand meaningful action on climate, fairness and national security.

If the Greens want to grow - and Australia needs them to - it’s their relationship with the public that needs to change. They need to show us what we can all build together. With dignity. That’s what appeals to me about Mamdani’s approach: the warmth, the practical focus and the invitation to belong. Explain the policies clearly. Take questions seriously. Give people room to disagree without questioning their decency or making them feel unwelcome.

Shoebridge has the intellectual strength to challenge power. I’ve also experienced his sincerity and compassion. Bringing those qualities together could help the Greens reach people who share many of their hopes but feel put off by their manner. Be rigorous with the arguments and generous with the people. That’s how trust grows.

Over the next eighteen months, I want the Greens to offer that combination of conviction, practical action, and dignity. I’m not particularly interested in having a Greens prime minister. I don’t care about political branding. I want an Australian prime minister who delivers for our kids and our country.

If the Greens get this wrong, we risk more Labor complacency and more space for the nastiness of the Coalition and One Nation. If they get it right, they can help Australians find common purpose and the confidence to act.

That’s active hope. And we need it now more than ever.

David Shoebridge visiting me during my #ClimateHungerStrike outside Parliament House, November 2023.