2017-07-18
I’m gutted by Larissa’s announcement, coming just days after Scott’s. Larissa has been an outstanding Senator and Deputy Leader. Her departure is deeply saddening.
This is unprecedented and deeply disappointing – personally for Larissa, for her family and for the Greens federally and in Queensland.
The Parliament and the nation are worse off as a result of the resignation of two leaders of such integrity and ability as Larissa and Scott.
This is an innocent mistake, and Larissa has acted quickly and honestly to correct it. I commend her for that. She’s paid a very high price for this error.
Larissa has unfinished business that I know she will never back away from, be it inside or outside the Parliament.
She’s standing up to the vested interests who are using money and influence to kill the reef while propping up the dying coal industry. She’s calling out this Liberal Government for their appalling cuts to family and domestic violence services. She is challenging the ingrained sexism and misogyny that pervades our politics and our society.
Larissa has represented the people of Queensland with tenacity and passion throughout her life, and I know that’s not about to change.
A lot has changed since I first joined the Greens. We are now a party of tens of thousands of dedicated supporters and more than a million voters, with Greens at every level of government.
Today I’ve spoken with our Party Convenors and we have committed to an urgent root-and-branch review of our processes. As our party grows, we need to strengthen our governance and internal processes including how we vet candidates to prevent this from happening again.
I want to make note of Larissa’s staff, who will also be affected by today’s news. It’s easy in these jobs to forget that we as MPs have the support of people who work incredibly hard and give up so much of their lives for the cause.
I want to thank Larissa for her support, loyalty and commitment as a friend, colleague and co-deputy leader. Both her and Alia will be greatly missed when we head back to Canberra.
Finally, let me say this to our Greens family – my colleagues, our members, supporters and voters: today’s news is challenging, but we are a movement founded in our solidarity and our commitment to working together to deliver change and to offer people choice in how we live our lives and make the world a better place for coming generations.