Greens’ Adam Bandt Concedes Seat, New Party Leader Sought

The Greens - Adam Bandt

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

Michael caught the solar power bug after purchasing components to cobble together a small off-grid PV system in 2008. He's been reporting on Australian and international solar energy news ever since.

Comments

  1. Geoff Miell says

    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.

    • George Kaplan says

      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!

    • George Kaplan says

      We’ve edited a weblink to know climate science denial website but reproduced the image featured

      This piece may be of interest: climate anxiety map

      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.

  2. George Kaplan says

    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.

    • Anthony Bennett says

      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%

  3. Forrest Gardener says

    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.

  4. 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.

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