It’s not just the Liberals choosing a new leader – the Greens are expected do so too after Adam Bandt’s election defeat.
Yesterday afternoon, Greens leader Adam Bandt conceded his seat of Melbourne, one that he held for 15 years. He’s been in touch with Labor’s Sarah Witty to congratulate her on her win.
“The Greens got the highest vote in Melbourne but One Nation and Liberal preferences will get Labor over the line to win in Melbourne,” he said. “We needed to overcome Liberal, Labor and One Nation combined, and it’s an Everest that we’ve climbed a few times now – but this time we fell just short.”
On election night, Mr. Bandt was very upbeat about the election’s outcome; claiming the largest Greens vote in history and an expectation he would retain the seat of Melbourne. But now the party is facing the prospect of having no members in the House of Representatives, although the Greens say they are confident in retaining the seat of Ryan (Elizabeth Watson-Brown) – and will hold sole balance of power in the Senate. Final Senate results not expected to be known until at least next week.
Greens Election Home Electrification Policies
The Greens went into Federal Election 2025 with a broader platform than previously. Among their renewables-focused policies was the Renters Right To Solar scheme. This would have enabled tenants to demand a solar power system up to 8kW capacity be installed on their rental homes, with landlords in most cases compelled to play – and pay.
Given landlords have been generally been resistant to installing solar panels regardless of any incentives available, SolarQuotes founder Finn Peacock commented at the time:
“Renters don’t need solar. They need plug and play batteries.”
Before Labor’s Cheaper Home Batteries program was announced in early April, the Greens unveiled a plan for households and small businesses to access financial assistance to ditch gas appliances and install electric alternatives. Under the plan, a grant of up to $10,000 and low-interest loan of up to $20,000 would have been available to households (more for small businesses) to install items such induction cooktops and heat pumps. Similar financial assistance would be available to install battery storage.
Bandt’s Parting Words For The Media
Mr. Bandt wound up his speech yesterday with some advice for the media pack gathered:
“We’re in a climate crisis. I really want the media to stop reporting on climate as a political issue, and start thinking about it as if our country was being invaded.”
Mr. Bandt lamented that when the Greens implored stopping new coal and gas projects in recent years there was a “kind of shrug” from the media. After all, it was the Greens.
“I just ask the media now every time you get a press release talking about a renewable energy project, or every time you get told that the climate crisis is being taken seriously, please don’t just treat this as a ‘well, we’re going to report what the different political parties say’. Look behind it and look at the science because your kids, our kids, everyone’s kids are in for a hellish future in their lifetimes if we don’t get the climate crisis under control.”
As for who might be the new Greens Leader after five years of Mr. Bandt at the party’s helm, Sarah Hanson-Young and Mehreen Faruqi are among potential successors. The Greens leadership will be determined by a meeting of the party room next week, with Senator Nick McKim acting in the role of caretaker in the meantime.
On a related note, find out what’s ahead for home electrification support in Australia under another round of Labor.
About Michael Bloch
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Humanity is on a collision course towards a +3 °C GMST anomaly, or more; a world beyond any past human experience. Large-scale depopulation would be likely.
Breakthrough National Centre for Climate Restoration published on 12 Feb 2025 a YouTube video titled Collision Course: 3-degrees of warming & humanity’s future, duration 1:07:25. David Spratt unpacks ten key points:
1. 1.5 °C is here and now;
2. Faster than forecast, climate extremes hit hard;
3. System tipping points tumble;
4. The world has not decarbonised;
5. Petrostates & big oil are on the offensive;
6. Warming is accelerating towards 3 °C or more;
7. The physical risks are cascading & systemic;
8. Focus on plausible worst-case risk scenarios;
9. In 40 years, a world beyond human experience;
10. We are on the road to “climate ruin”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flgq63f7TOc
Yet the deniers continue to deny reality.
The media continue to downplay the existential risks.
Geoff, what climate extremes, like Australia facing a long cold hard winter? Or solar generation crashing the last month or so?
I seem to vaguely recall seeing something about CO2 peaking, or perhaps reaching a point where increases no longer affect the system. Apologies I just saw a mention, don’t think I read the actual piece, and cannot recall the details. Given the number of papers being retracted, even entire journals being cancelled, it may be relevant.
You may also be interested to know that Antarctica’s ice sheet is growing.
With Beijing being responsible for more than a third of global CO2 emissions, with America reviewing the science behind climate alarmism and making major policy changes, Australia’s decisions in the matter are largely irrelevant. Resilience in building design and wisdom in were to develop, yes, but anything else is pretty much irrelevant.
The media don’t ignore climate change, they just seem to realise that people are over it.
Still a Skeptic!
Hi George,
We try to keep the comments helpful here but making vague assertions without citing any credible source is really just participating in the web of fear, uncertainty and doubt promoted by Incumbent Fossil Inc.
If you want hard economic evidence, try getting flood insurance in Lismore or Brisbane. The people with the money and the people who do strategic planning for the defence department believe in climate science, so it’s about time we got onto a war footing both for tangible action and fighting disinformation.
Anthony Bennett: – “If you want hard economic evidence, try getting flood insurance in Lismore or Brisbane.”
…or Ballina? Inundation of 1 metre from a temporary storm surge, or permanent sea level rise would be catastrophic!
https://coastal.climatecentral.org/map/13/153.5603/-28.8589/?theme=water_level&map_type=water_level_above_mhhw&basemap=roadmap&contiguous=true&elevation_model=best_available&refresh=true&water_level=1.0&water_unit=m
Anthony Bennett: – “…and the people who do strategic planning for the defence department believe in climate science…”
But the Australian Government still refuses to articulate ‘frankly terrifying’ security risks to Australian citizens.
https://johnmenadue.com/post/2025/03/government-refuses-to-articulate-frankly-terrifying-security-risks/
George Kaplan: – “Geoff, what climate extremes, like Australia facing a long cold hard winter?”
Just because you haven’t YET personally experienced climate extremes doesn’t mean it’s not happening elsewhere.
https://www.crikey.com.au/2025/02/07/queensland-floods-climate-change-cost/
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/eOq_-ep6gWY
George Kaplan: – “You may also be interested to know that Antarctica’s ice sheet is growing.”
Evidence/data?
Meanwhile, the rate of global mean sea level rise (SLR) in 2024 was 5.9 mm/year.
https://sealevel.nasa.gov/news/282/nasa-analysis-shows-unexpected-amount-of-sea-level-rise-in-2024
I would not be at all surprised to see the rate of global mean SLR accelerate further, from 5.9 mm/year in 2024 to 10 mm/year sometime in the 2030s, & double further to 20 mm/year before 2050. That likely equates to 40 to 50 cm of SLR relative to the year-2000 baseline by 2050, & multi-metre (i.e. ≥2 m) SLR before 2100.
We’ve edited a weblink to know climate science denial website but reproduced the image featured
This piece may be of interest:
Climate anxiety basically correlates with Leftness in voting, at least in America – Australia may or may not correlate. Yet rather than recognise the correlation the media instead spun out a story about increasing distress and showing it mapped out.
Not sure SQ will allow a Watts Up link through – I’m not familiar with the site, but it doesn’t seem to be a climate alarmist one, rather a skeptic one, which makes for a nice change.
Hi George,
Climate anxiety correlates neatly with education, income and economic value.
https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/us-metro-areas-by-gdp.jpg
George Kaplan: – “Climate anxiety basically correlates with Leftness in voting, at least in America – Australia may or may not correlate.”
The Laws of Physics don’t ‘care’ about mere mortal politics. They only respond to physical realities. Currently, humanity is on the road to “climate Ruin” – see my earlier comment above.
George Kaplan: – “Not sure SQ will allow a Watts Up link through – I’m not familiar with the site, but it doesn’t seem to be a climate alarmist one, rather a skeptic one, which makes for a nice change.”
Watts Up With That? (WUWT) is a blog promoting climate change denial that was created by Anthony Watts in 2006.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watts_Up_With_That%3F
DeSmog’s profile of Anthony Watts is at:
https://www.desmog.com/anthony-watts/
The Coalition were very clear they wanted to keep the Greens out of government. Looks like regardless of whatever else happened, they succeeded on that front!
There are doubtless many folk that an extremist party aren’t having any say in Australia’s future – well no more than any other minor party or Independent.
Hi George,
We try to stay out of pure politics but I think it’s worth reiterating the number of people who don’t vote for major parties anymore.
Couldn’t agree more about the minor party extremists, they should be kept well away from the cabinet table.
Luckily they seem to be keen on that themselves having divorced themselves from the Liberals.
In the 2025 Australian federal election for the Senate, the Australian Greens outpolled the Nationals by a very large margin in Senate first preference votes
The Greens: 1,855,494 votes (11.72%)
The Nationals: 63,595 votes (0.40%)
As the 2025 count is still ongoing, we have to refer to the 2022 Federal Election for House of Representatives
Australian Greens:
Primary vote: 1,798,769
Percentage: 12.25%
National Party of Australia (The Nationals):
Primary vote: 624,555
Percentage: 4.25%
You do realize that everybody who thinks highly of solarquotes thinks as highly of the greens as you do. Right Michael?
Frankly I thought more highly of them when they were focused on the natural habitats of birds and animals.
Couldn’t care less if the Greens lost 10 seats in the lower house & all their leaders. It’s irrelevant when Labor holds a majority.
What is miles more significant is the Greens hold the balance of power in the senate.