David Shoebridge is a brutal interrogator who knows his way around parliamentary process.
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who → know → process
Many Australians would best know his face from viral clips of his back-and-forth with ministers and senior bureaucrats during upper house hearings.
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Australians → know → hearings
The former barrister holds a reputation, among both colleagues and rivals, as one of the most effective crossbenchers in Australian politics.
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barrister → hold → politics
But he now has a much broader mission.
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he → have → mission
It’s one that will take him out of the Senate chamber and adversarial day-to-day politics, and into the reaches of ordinary households and communities across the country.
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that → ’ → country
The hard-left senator from NSW wants to replace the federal Labor Party with a mass movement of everyday Australians.
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senator → leave → Australians
While the ambition is lofty, it is not new, having often been articulated by Greens founder Bob Brown.
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it → articulate → Brown
The question is whether Shoebridge, 55, can deliver – or even get close – given the Greens have stalled at a 12 per cent vote share between the last two elections.
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Greens → deliver → elections
Shoebridge took the helm of the left-wing minor party in a rare contested vote on Wednesday, surging through the middle on a ticket with deputy Stephanie Hodgins-May, 41, to beat senators Sarah Hanson-Young and Mehreen Faruqi for the top job.
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Shoebridge → take → job
Greens MPs have historically been cast as two archetypes – the tree huggers and the watermelons.
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MPs → cast → archetypes
“This is an extraordinary moment in politics, and we can all feel it,” he said.
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he → feel → it
“After four years of a Labor government, things have got … better for the 1 per cent but much, much harder for ordinary Australians.”
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things → get → Australians
Shoebridge said he and Hodgins-May would present a “fresh, new, strong base” that connected the dots between people’s material lives, stresses and struggles, and how they were being failed by politics, the major parties and One Nation.
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they → say → politics
How are they going to do it?
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they → go → it
We’ve got a platform that’s double that.
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that → get → platform
We are so close to this,” Shoebridge said.
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Shoebridge → say → this
“What we need to do is bridge that gap … with a sense of political momentum and positivity.”
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need → need → momentum
Waters launched a “Tax the 1 per cent” campaign earlier this year, and the party’s agenda has remained relatively stable over the federal party’s 34-year history.
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agenda → launch → history
And when it comes to image, there’s not much difference between Shoebridge and his bespectacled predecessors Adam Bandt and Richard Di Natale.
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it → come → Shoebridge
It means any change under his leadership is more likely to be in style than substance, insiders believe.
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insiders → mean → substance
Central to that is how Shoebridge handles negotiations with the government.
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handles → handle → government
Many in the Greens underplay disputes about the party’s strategy, but in general, the thrust of debate generally pits pragmatism against populism.
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thrust → underplay → populism
Waters came to the leadership promising a consultative and constructive approach, after a period under Bandt where the Greens were often accused of obstruction.
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Greens → come → obstruction
Since then, the party has helped Labor pass key legislation, including its budget tax package.
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Labor → help → package
Shoebridge is making no such overtures.
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Shoebridge → make → overtures
Asked what his own approach would be, he said: “I’ll say this to the Labor Party: if you put serious material change on the table of the parliament, we’ll vote for that, right?
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we → ask → that
But after four years of watching them not do that …
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them → watch → that
We’re not here to make Labor better.”
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Labor → ’re → ?
The prospect has some Coalition MPs licking their lips, and some Labor MPs bracing for a tougher time.
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MPs → have → time
They expect Shoebridge will slow the passage of legislation and avoid handing wins to the government.
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Shoebridge → expect → government
They think he has the smarts to do so.
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he → think → smarts
Shoebridge, who grew up on Sydney’s north shore, was a graduate of James Ruse Agricultural High School and the University of Sydney.
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who → grow → Sydney
He worked as an employment lawyer and barrister, and represented the Greens on Woollahra Council in 2004 before entering NSW politics in 2010.
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He → work → 2010
“NSW politics is brutal,” Shoebridge said on Wednesday, citing his campaigns against corruption, bringing down premiers and fighting for ICAC resources.
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Shoebridge → say → resources
“If you want to earn your stripes in Australian politics, I reckon the bear pit of the NSW parliament isn’t a bad spot.”
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pit → want → parliament
In NSW, he chaired the powerful Public Accountability Committee and had a focus on transparency and civil liberties.
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he → chair → transparency
Since entering federal parliament in 2022, he has zeroed in on defence, AUKUS, refugees and Australia’s relationship with the United States.
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he → enter → States
Shoebridge’s 16-year political career has cemented his reputation as a policy wonk, legal brain and effective operator.
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career → cement → wonk
He runs his own media strategy, is often on the phone, and masters detail.
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He → run → detail
State colleagues from both the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers and then-Labor opposition described him as a champion of accountability and a skilled parliamentarian whose departure left a hole in the NSW upper house.
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departure → describe → house
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
