2020-02-04
Adam Bandt MP, Member for Melbourne, has been elected as the Australian Greens Parliamentary Leader.
Adam will use his first media conference as leader to call for a government-led Green New Deal to tackle the climate emergency and the jobs and inequality crises. Adam will also make a strong pitch to young people to join the movement for a Green New Deal.
In a ballot held in the Greens party room today, Adam was elected uncontested. Larissa Waters, Senator for Queensland has been elected Leader in the Senate and Nick McKim, Senator for Tasmania has been elected as Deputy Leader in the Senate. Rachel Siewert has been returned as Whip and Janet Rice continues as Party Room Chair and also takes on the role of Deputy Whip.
Adam was elected to the Federal Parliament in 2010, making history as the first Green elected to the House of Representatives at a general election. Since his first election he has doubled the Greens vote in Melbourne taking it to one of the biggest in the country. Before entering Parliament, Adam worked for many years as a public interest and industrial lawyer protecting workers from privatisation and big corporations.
Quotes attributable to Adam Bandt MP:
“I want to acknowledge the fantastic work of our former leader Richard Di Natale and thank him for his leadership of our party and service to our country. I want to thank my colleagues for their support and the confidence they have placed in me. I also look forward to working closely with Greens National Councillors, State MPs and local councillors, State Conveners and branches in the coming months as we go forward.
“In particular, I want to congratulate Larissa Waters for being elected today as Leader in the Senate and Nick McKim for being elected as Deputy Leader in the Senate. Holding these leadership positions reflects the years of hard work and commitment you've each made to the Greens movement, and I'm excited to work closely with you both in the years ahead.
“We are in the middle of a climate emergency and long running jobs and inequality crises. People are angry and anxious because the government has no plan for the big problems facing the country.
“That is why Australia needs a Green New Deal.
“A Green New Deal means government leading the country in transforming our economy, creating new jobs and industries powered by clean energy and delivering universal services like dental into Medicare and genuinely free education. This is what I will be fighting for.
“We are a smart and wealthy country and if we have the guts to take on the big corporations and the weak politicians they have in their pockets, we can solve the problems we face.
“I call on everyone, but particularly young Australians, to join our movement for a Green New Deal so together we can fight to save the future.”
For further details, see the biography below.
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Adam Bandt headshot (5.6MB)
WHO IS ADAM?
Adam Bandt is the Federal Member for Melbourne. Adam lives with his wife Claudia, daughters Wren and Elke and their dog Max in inner-city Melbourne.
Adam was elected to the Federal Parliament in 2010, making history as the first Green elected to the House of Representatives at a general election.
Adam has served as Deputy Leader under Christine Milne and Richard Di Natale. For a number of years Adam has been the Greens spokesperson on the climate crisis, energy, employment & industrial relations and science, research and innovation. He has previously been the Greens Treasury spokesperson.
Since first running for the seat of Melbourne in 2007, Adam has more than doubled his vote, winning 49.3% of the primary votes in 2019 and securing the third highest two-candidate preferred result in the country (68.5%).
In his maiden speech to Parliament, Adam warned of the coming climate emergency. Adam was a key participant in the Gillard minority government’s Multi-Party Climate Change Committee which developed the climate price and established the successful Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. It was only because of Adam’s election and the signed agreement with Julia Gillard that the carbon price was introduced, the only time carbon pollution has decreased in Australia.
Before entering Parliament, Adam worked for many years as a public interest and industrial lawyer protecting workers from privatisation and big business. Adam represented some of Australia’s lowest paid workers, working with the current President of the ACTU Michelle O'Neill on legal action against corporate giant Nike to make them responsible for the wages and conditions of workers in their supply chain. Adam also worked to protect the rights of coal workers in the Latrobe Valley after their power stations were privatised.
One of Adam’s first acts in Parliament was to introduce a private members bill extending protection for firefighters who contract cancer through their work, which passed into law with unanimous support, becoming one of only 7 private members bills to become law in the past two decades.
Adam also joins the ranks of party leaders who like to DJ, with a pair of turntables & mixer at home which get brought out for long-suffering guests at parties and sometimes at Greens events.