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Larissa Waters steps down as Greens leader due to ill health

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editor, T. M. P. (2026, September 28). Larissa Waters steps down as Greens leader due to ill health. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/28/larissa-waters-steps-down-as-greens-leader-due-to-ill-health-ntnwfb

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Guardian · collected 2026-09-28 · by Tom McIlroy Political editor

Quick Summary

Larissa Waters has stepped down as leader of the Australian Greens due to declining health from an ongoing kidney disease. A leadership ballot is scheduled for next week to select her successor. Waters became leader in 2025 after Adam Bandt lost his seat, and during her tenure, she negotiated environmental reforms with Labor and helped introduce tougher gun laws following a terror attack. She will take medical leave but intends to return to the Senate to continue representing Queensland.
Written by AI on 2026-09-28, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Larissa Waters, the federal leader of Australia's Greens party, announced her resignation on Monday night due to health issues related to kidney disease. Waters took over as leader from Adam Bandt just over 15 months ago after Bandt lost his seat in Melbourne to Labor in the May 2025 election. The party plans to hold a secret ballot among its MPs later this week to elect a new leader, with David Shoebridge seen as the frontrunner.

Waters revealed that her condition had recently worsened and required her to step down for the sake of her health. She expressed optimism about recovery but emphasized that leading the party demands too much energy at present. The Greens have struggled in recent years, losing several seats and seeing their influence diminish with Labor's increasing numbers in the Senate.

Waters intends to return to the Senate after taking medical leave, emphasizing that handing over leadership will allow a healthier candidate to better serve the party's goals leading up to the next election. Some members of the Greens have criticized the party’s recent performance under Waters' leadership, noting difficulties in connecting with voters amid growing support for parties like One Nation.

Written for “Larissa Waters Resigns Greens Leader” on 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Larissa Waters Resigns Greens Leader
Politics · 3 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 12% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Shock as Larissa Waters unexpectedly resigns as Greens party leader Same event
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Hedges 1 of 15 claims Outlet record 68/100
Larissa Waters quits as Greens leader due to illness Same event
The Sydney Morning Herald
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 1 of 24 claims Outlet record 61/100
The Greens are about to pick a new leader. Who are the contenders? Different event
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 6 of 53 claims Outlet record 68/100
“Article A reports on Larissa Waters announcing her resignation due to ill health, while Article B discusses the process of selecting a new leader following her resignation. These are related events but not the same specific incident.”
Greens choose outspoken senator David Shoebridge as new leader Different event
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans strongly left Hedges 3 of 15 claims Outlet record 68/100
“While both articles mention Larissa Waters stepping down and the election of a new leader, they describe different stages of the process: Article A reports on Waters' announcement, while Article B covers the subsequent election of David Shoebridge as the new leader.”
Her great-great-grandfather helped create the National Party. Now she wants to ‘bury it’ Different event
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⚖️ Leans left Hedges 15 of 46 claims Outlet record 61/100
“While both articles mention Larissa Waters stepping down due to health reasons, Article B describes a subsequent event where a new deputy leader is chosen, which is not the same as Waters' announcement of her resignation.”
Greens leader showdown to occur at Sydney retreat Different event
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 2 of 28 claims Outlet record 61/100
“While both articles discuss Larissa Waters stepping down as Greens leader due to health issues, they describe different aspects of the event. Article A focuses on her initial announcement and reasons for stepping down, while Article B covers the subsequent leadership election process.”
The Greens need to let the sunshine in or risk stagnation Different event
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 4 of 34 claims Outlet record 61/100
“Article A reports specifically about Waters stepping down due to health reasons, while Article B uses this event as an analogy for a broader critique of the party's leadership dynamics and isolation.”
Senior Greens figures say new leadership must stop Labor approving fossil fuel projects ‘by whatever means’ Different event
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans strongly left Hedges 2 of 27 claims Outlet record 66/100
“While both articles mention Larissa Waters stepping down as Greens leader due to ill health, they describe different aspects of the situation and occur on different dates.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
16
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
12%
2 of 16 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
The Guardian's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
3
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-28 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

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Who wrote this

Tom McIlroy Political editor
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🔮 “She is a determined person who will do her best with our support and love to recover, and that is what we hope for,” he said.
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Also by Tom McIlroy Political editor
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 21 articles by Tom McIlroy Political editor →

Topics

Greens Labor One Nation Queensland Senate

Subjects

Waters PERSON · 7× Greens ORG · 6× Bandt PERSON · 3× Labor ORG · 3× Queensland GPE · 3× One Nation ORG · 2× Senate ORG · 2× Adam Bandt PERSON · 1× Larissa Waters PERSON · 1× Liberals NORP · 1×

Narrative

“I’m really sad that illness means my time as leader has been cut short, but our movement needs a leader in good health to lead us to success at the next election. “Passing the torch on to the next leader of the party will put them in the best position to take the Greens to the next election, fighting for people, not the corporate interests that run Labor, Liberals and One Nation. “Our fight is too important, and it needs more time and energy than I am able to give while I focus on my recovery.”
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-28
🔮 Greens leader Larissa Waters has announced she will step down due to ill health, with a party room meeting scheduled for next week to choose her successor.
2026-09-28 · The Guardian
Larissa Waters steps down as Greens leader due to ill health · assertive framing

Claims (16 extracted, 2 hedged)

Greens leader Larissa Waters has announced she will step down due to ill health, with a party room meeting scheduled for next week to choose her successor. asserted
she → announce → successor
Waters revealed on Monday night she has been managing a pre-existing kidney disease, but that her health had “declined significantly over the course of recent months”. asserted
health → reveal → months
She said while her prognosis for recovery was positive, the pressure of the party’s leadership, including additional travel demands, was detracting from a focus on her health. asserted
pressure → say → health
Waters replaced Adam Bandt as Greens leader after the 2025 election, in which Bandt lost his lower house seat in a shock result. asserted
Bandt → replace → result
But some Greens members have expressed frustration with the party’s position under Waters, including its cut-through with voters as the major parties haemorrhage support to One Nation. asserted
parties → express → Nation
- Get our new political email, free app or daily news podcast Waters said in a statement she would take a period of medical leave, before returning to parliament to represent Queensland in the Senate. asserted
she → get → Senate
“It has been a tremendous honour to be leader of the Greens, fighting for people and the planet,” she said. asserted
she → fight → people
“I’m really sad that illness means my time as leader has been cut short, but our movement needs a leader in good health to lead us to success at the next election. “Passing the torch on to the next leader of the party will put them in the best position to take the Greens to the next election, fighting for people, not the corporate interests that run Labor, Liberals and One Nation. “Our fight is too important, and it needs more time and energy than I am able to give while I focus on my recovery.” asserted
I → ’m → recovery
She thanked her colleagues and doctors for their support, citing successes including negotiations with Labor on environmental law reforms and tougher gun laws introduced after last year’s Bondi Beach terror attack. asserted
She → thank → attack
“I will keep working for the people of Queensland, for women’s safety and for climate action when I am able to return to parliament.” asserted
I → keep → parliament
Deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi, and high profile senators Sarah Hanson-Young, David Shoebridge and Nick McKim could contest the leadership ballot. uncertain
Faruqi → contest → ballot
Waters was first elected to the Senate in 2011 but was forced to resign in July 2017 after discovering she held duel Canadian citizenship during parliament’s eligibility crisis. asserted
she → elect → crisis
After renouncing her citizenship, she returned to the upper house in September 2018 to fill a vacancy. asserted
she → renounce → vacancy
As the party’s spokesperson for women, Waters played a role in shaping the independent parliamentary workplace watchdog based on recommendations from Kate Jenkins’ report into the culture in Parliament House. asserted
Waters → play → House
The Greens have been reduced to a single lower house MP – Ryan’s Elizabeth Watson-Brown – after the May election, with minor primary vote swings against Bandt and two Queensland incumbents, Max Chandler-Mather and Stephen Bates. uncertain
Greens → reduce → Bandt
The party maintains the losses were due to a drop in votes for the Liberal party favouring Labor candidates, as well as a reduction in favourable preference flows. asserted
losses → maintain → flows
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