Senator Larissa Waters has introduced she is standing down as Greens chief as a consequence of sickness, after 16 months within the position.
The Greens have revealed she has been managing an current kidney illness, which has worsened in current months.
The 49-year-old notified her colleagues of her determination to step away throughout a digital assembly earlier this night.
Senator Waters expressed gratitude for her stint as chief however admitted she wanted to go at a “slower tempo” as she targeted on her restoration.
“It has been an incredible honour to be chief of the Greens, combating for folks and the planet,” she stated in a press release on Monday night.
“I am actually unhappy that sickness means my time as chief has been minimize quick, however our motion wants a frontrunner in good well being to guide us to success on the subsequent election.“
The Queensland senator took on management in Might 2025, changing Adam Bandt after he misplaced his decrease home seat within the 2025 election.
She was elected in a race towards present deputy chief Mehreen Faruqi and supervisor of enterprise in Senate Sarah Hanson-Younger.
Larissa Waters turned chief in Might 2025, with Mehreen Faruqi elected as deputy and Senator Sarah Hanson-Younger supervisor of enterprise within the Senate. (AAP Picture: Joel Carrett)
Senator Waters will take medical depart, however says she intends to return to work as quickly as she will be able to.
A partyroom assembly might be held in coming days to debate the management, with ABC instructed a call might be made sooner relatively than later.
Environmental wins as chief
Senator Waters hailed final yr’s cope with Labor to overtake Australia’s environmental legal guidelines as a “vital win” throughout her time as chief.
In November 2025, the Greens secured a number of amendments to the laws, together with tightening land clearing controls and stopping the fast-tracking of coal and fuel initiatives beneath a nationwide curiosity exemption.
The Greens additionally pushed to separate gun security measures from hate speech legal guidelines after the Bondi Seashore terrorist assault, serving to to go the firearms modifications in January.
Extra lately, the minor social gathering has used its steadiness of energy within the Senate to stall Nationwide Incapacity Insurance coverage Scheme reforms and efficiently secured an prolonged parliamentary inquiry into the sweeping modifications.
Senator Waters was first elected as a senator for Queensland in 2010, making her the second longest-serving member of the Greens partyroom behind senator Sarah Hanson-Younger.