2025-10-21
By Gemmia Burden and Caroline Atkinson
Australian Greens Co-Convenors
This year has been a roller coaster ride for the Australian Greens and we have seen the effect across the organisation. Throughout the political ups and downs of the year, the Greens movement has held strong and true to our values, something that is being recognised in our great rating for trustworthiness as a party; if we say it, we mean it.
The political landscape, both in Australia and overseas has seen the Greens dedication to our political positions tested. Despite being challenged as obstructive, or even disruptive the Greens have stuck to our philosophies of environmental protection, equality, and equity for all, calling out the Government on their disastrous environmental record including all those new coal mines and the atrocious situation in Gaza. Throughout the year, our four foundational principles have guided our legislative efforts, community engagement, and our election strategy.
Working with the parliamentary team the Greens made a significant legislative impact this year:
- Climate Action: we advocated for stronger carbon reduction targets and the rapid transition to renewable energy. Our senators introduced several bills to accelerate investment in wind, solar, and battery technology while opposing new coal and gas projects.
- Environmental Protection: This year saw concerted action to protect Australia’s biodiversity, with Greens pushing for expanded national parks, stricter controls on deforestation, and greater investment in regenerative agriculture.
- Social Justice: The party championed reforms on affordable housing, mental health support, and Indigenous rights. Notably, our representatives supported initiatives to close the gap and strengthen First Nations representation.
- Economic Equity: Greens parliamentarians demanded fair taxation of multinational corporations and greater transparency in government spending, helping to ensure public resources are directed to where they’re needed most.
- Palestine: the Greens have held firm on our position on the atrocities in Palestine and our humanitarian stance is now being reflected in Labor, and international positions.
Even before the election the national and state teams were working to increase our community engagement and building the grassroots movement we need to continue to grow as a political force in Australia. Thousands of volunteers participated in local campaigns focused on climate action, human rights, social equity and public transport improvements. Local groups hosted town hall meetings and education workshops across Australia, giving us a platform to share concerns and shape policy initiatives. Through this we grew our membership and increased the diversity of those actively involved in the Greens.
And what about the election? We found ourselves under immense pressure in 2025 from fossil fuel funded groups such as Advance and the changes in electoral boundaries. Holding our marginal seats was always going to be a challenge, and with Labour focussing their ‘big guns’ on the party this proved to be the case. The shock of losing a leader and 3 seats cannot be underestimated, we will miss Adam’s leadership and the amazing contributions of the Queensland team.
Despite all this pressure, the Greens vote held. And arguably we now have a more powerful position in the Senate. This is a tribute to the election teams across the country who worked tirelessly at the grassroots and national level to ensure our message of hope was received.
And in State and Council elections across the nation the Greens continued to perform well growing the number of State MPs and Councillors.
Of course all this would not have been possible without the outstanding efforts of our volunteers in all corners of the country. Our thanks go out to everyone who attended meetings, door knocked, spoke to members of their community and all the other activities which are essential to make the party a success
Keeping the party financially stable remains essential to our broader ambitions. Much gratitude to Sue as our Treasurer who has maintained a stable and rational approach to the numbers, despite always being the ‘under resourced’ party. Sue, always provided a comprehensive and understandable view of our financial health
Policy work was of course essential getting us ready for an election and ensuring that the voice of the members is reflected in the Greens position. Jason and the policy team put in many long hours and expertise to make this happen
Our Secretary Debbie keeps the National Council and Conference running with her impeccable planning and diligent minute taking as well as providing an invaluable perspective at meetings. Her work ensures we can be confident of the decisions we’ve made in the party.
An International Co-Secretaries presence is now a regular feature of our meetings so thanks to Dominic, supported by Trish for their work and keeping us up to date on a busy area of the Greens activity.
The AG staff team continue to go over and above to grow the Greens as a movement and drive our election successes. Brett and his team consistently apply their expertise and institutional knowledge to keep the party running efficiently and effectively and we couldn’t do all this without them.
The MPs and their staff across the country continued to ably represent us in the parliament and across the country. The challenge of being in the public eye and standing up for Greens values is ever present and we thank them for their dedication to this task. It was sad to see the Party Room reduced in numbers, though heartening to see that it will not be reduced in influence,
And finally, to echo what was said last year, the major parties and corporate interests are scared that we’re starting to erode their power.
The money and effort they put into trying to defeat us at the election shows how much ground we have gained. As we undertake a strategic review with our members across the country, we will be building on our foundations over the next three years to bring better outcomes for our diverse communities, for our country and our planet.
- Gemmia & Caroline