Greens leader Larissa Waters announced she will step down due to ill health, citing a decline in her health due to a pre-existing kidney disease. The Queensland senator will take medical leave before eventually returning to parliament, leaving the party to select a new leader in a meeting scheduled for next week.
Waters notified her colleagues of the decision during a virtual meeting on Monday evening, ending a 16-month tenure in the top role. While she noted that her prognosis for recovery is positive, she admitted that the demands of leadership and additional travel were detracting from her focus on health.
“Our fight is too important, and it needs more time and energy than I am able to give while I focus on my recovery.”
Larissa Waters, Greens leader
Kidney Disease and the Pressure of Leadership
The 49-year-old senator revealed she has been managing a kidney disease that declined significantly over the course of recent months. Waters expressed a need to operate at a slower pace
to facilitate her recovery, though she intends to resume her work representing Queensland in the Senate once she is able.
This health crisis interrupts a leadership term that began in May 2025. Waters assumed the role after Adam Bandt lost his lower house seat in a shock result during the 2025 election. Her ascent to the leadership followed a competitive race against current deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi and Senator Sarah Hanson-Young.
Legislative Wins and the Balance of Power
Despite the truncated term, Waters pointed to several legislative achievements. She described a deal with Labor to overhaul Australia’s environmental laws as a significant win
. According to ABC News, this November 2025 agreement tightened land clearing controls and blocked the fast-tracking of coal and gas projects via national interest exemptions.
The party also managed the aftermath of the Bondi Beach terror attack, pushing to separate gun safety measures from hate speech laws to ensure the firearms changes passed in January. More recently, the Greens have utilized their Senate balance of power to secure an extended inquiry into National Disability Insurance Scheme reforms, effectively stalling those changes.
Party Room Tensions and Electoral Decline
The leadership transition comes at a period of electoral volatility for the Greens. Following the May election, the party was reduced to a single lower house MP, Elizabeth Watson-Brown. The party attributed these losses to unfavorable preference flows and a shift in Liberal party votes toward Labor, alongside primary vote swings against Max Chandler-Mather, Stephen Bates, and Adam Bandt.
This decline has fueled internal frustration. Some members have questioned the party’s current position and its ability to maintain cut-through with voters, particularly as major parties lose support to One Nation.
The Race to Replace Waters
With a party room meeting scheduled for the coming days, the Greens must now identify a leader capable of managing the lead-up to the next election. ABC News reports that a decision is expected sooner rather than later
.
- Mehreen Faruqi: Current deputy leader.
- Sarah Hanson-Young: Senate manager of business and the longest-serving member of the party room.
- David Shoebridge: High-profile senator.
- Nick McKim: High-profile senator.
Waters, who first entered the Senate in 2010, has a complex history with the chamber. She was forced to resign in July 2017 during the parliamentary eligibility crisis after discovering she held dual Canadian citizenship, only returning in September 2018. Beyond leadership, she was instrumental in shaping the independent parliamentary workplace watchdog following the Kate Jenkins report into Parliament House culture.