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New South Wales Senator David Shoebridge has just been announced as the new leader of the Federal Greens party. It comes after the sudden resignation of Larissa Waters on Monday evening.

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00:01The interesting thing out of David Shoebridge's very first attack, I guess, from being leader
00:07is his focus on cost of living and the current situation in the Australian economy.
00:12Really honing in on the pressures that everyday Australians are facing,
00:16linking that to the sort of politics as usual of the major parties
00:21and saying that the Greens are going to be focused on ensuring that Australians are getting the support that they
00:27need.
00:28That economic focus is quite an interesting one.
00:31It's a bit of a shift from the sort of broader other issues that the Greens have focused on,
00:36whether it's climate and environment, their traditional space or some of the more social justice issues.
00:41So his first outing really honing in on what is really the source of a lot of grievance in the
00:46Australian community at the moment.
00:48It's the same anger and grievance that has fuelled support for One Nation
00:53and really taken away support from the major parties.
00:57So David Shoebridge there trying to tap into that sentiment.
01:00It was a three-way contest, which in and of itself is incredibly interesting when it comes to the Greens,
01:05because they do not hold ballots like this very often.
01:09In fact, the last time was only once last year for the deputy position,
01:13but a three-way race between David Shoebridge, Maureen Faruqi and Sarah Hansen-Young.
01:17Shoebridge prevailed, but immediately after, Maureen Faruqi put out a statement saying that she was disappointed with the result,
01:26that the party room had gone a different way and essentially outlining that she had hoped that people would back
01:35her and her vision for the party.
01:38She said she didn't stand for deputy leader, which was her previous position, because she believed she could play her
01:45part better outside the constraints of the leadership team,
01:50which is quite a signal, I would say, of her intention to really be quite critical of whatever it is
01:58that she disagrees with,
01:59with where the party have gone with Shoebridge as leader and also Steph Hodgins-May as the deputy.
02:05So, she's been advocating saying that Greens members should be elected by members,
02:11but that is not the way that the party is currently structured.
02:16That call actually was echoed by a former Greens member, Max Chandler-Mather,
02:21who also said that going forward the Greens leader should be selected by the broader membership.
02:28That's not what we've seen today.
02:30She's essentially saying the Greens can't call themselves a grassroots party without having that broad membership vote to select the
02:39leader.
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