The Greens are facing a run of tests in Shoebridge’s first weeks as leader

Three weeks into the job, Greens leader David Shoebridge has gone from a public row over Ukraine to criticism from his own colleagues and now an inquiry into one of his senators.

Since Shoebridge was elected leader of the Greens at the end of September, he vowed to “beat down One Nation” and expose Labor’s “failures”.

Instead, the story has been one of ill-contained disarray, with one crisis tumbling into the next.

Political scientist Zareh Ghazarian of Monash University’s School of Social Sciences told SBS News that the past weeks had been catastrophic for a party under new leadership, which had struggled to make ground amid the rise of One Nation.

“This could not have been a worse start to Senator David Shoebridge’s leadership for the Greens,” he said, adding that the Greens had needed an opportunity to stand out in a “positive way”.

“That opportunity was there with a new leader, but these events and internal disagreements have taken their toll. It’s been a very tough start to Senator Shoebridge’s leadership.”

‘A real test’

The latest challenge came on Wednesday, when WA Greens senator Jordon Steele-John took leave from the party as allegations related to his comments about women triggered an inquiry.

While Steele-John “utterly” rejected the characterisation, which he said tried to “assert” him as someone he wasn’t, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that the WA Greens branch had allegedly maintained a crisis communications dossier, instructing staff how to comment on any allegations made about Steele-John’s conduct around women, for a decade.

WA Greens has said in a statement that it considers “any allegations of this nature to be serious and concerning” and that the “matter needs to be resolved via a fair, timely and independent investigation”.

Ghazarian said the allegations “have the potential to destabilise the party and have a significant negative impact”.

“This is going to be a real test,” he told SBS News.

“Senator Shoebridge came into the leadership with a reputation as an effective communicator and parliamentary performer. He will need to draw on all of those skills.

“Ultimately, this is going to be a real test of his leadership.”

Shoebridge has refused to say whether the party will publish the findings of the inquiry into allegations against Steele-John.

He also said he was unaware of past complaints about the senator until a letter from seven Greens members landed on his desk this week.

A ‘destabilising’ debate

The controversy around Steele-John came just days after the party reportedly faced internal disagreement over its policy on military aid to Ukraine.

In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald during his first week as leader, Shoebridge said, “we don’t support military aid to Ukraine”, while the party also “oppose Russia’s illegal invasion”.

The stance drew criticism not only from other politicians and the Ukrainian community, but also from a high-profile party member.

Sarah Hanson-Young, the party’s Senate business manager, who lost the leadership contest to Shoebridge, told ABC’s 7:30, “We need to be doing everything we can to support the people in Ukraine”.

When pressed on whether that includes providing military equipment, she responded, “If that’s the support that people need in order to defend themselves from the invasion of Russia, I think Australians need to support that.”

About 70 per cent of Australians support providing military aid to Ukraine, according to a poll by the Lowy Institute.

Ghazarian said the “debate about Ukraine has been destabilising for the Greens”.

“They need to explain their policy positions clearly and be on the front foot when it comes to discussing public policy.

“Instead, they seem to have been on the back foot … It is a very testing period for the Greens and for the new leader.”

‘Deep’ internal divisions

The challenges for Shoebridge started almost as soon as the 11-member party committee chose him as its leader, after winning the party’s first contested leadership ballot.

He beat former deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi seven votes to four, and Hanson-Young was knocked out in the first round.

In response, Faruqi said she was “disappointed the party room chose another direction” and that “many others will feel the same way”, signalling possible divisions in the party.

In a video on social media, Hanson-Young also said: “God, politics can be brutal”.

“The Greens have always had two broad strands within the party,” Ghazarian said.

“One has been more focused on pragmatism and working with other political parties within parliament to achieve policy outcomes. The other has been more activist in its approach, with a stronger focus on changing grassroots behaviours and actions.

“Like other political parties, the Greens have internal divisions, and they can potentially be quite deep.”

At the federal election, the party lost ground and has struggled to regain momentum, losing three of its four lower house seats — including the Melbourne seat held by its then-leader, Adam Bandt.

Now the Greens seem to have been overshadowed in the public debate by the attention focused on One Nation.

Ghazarian said the upcoming Victorian state elections in November “will be a significant test for the Greens brand”.

“This is occurring at a time when the Victorian Labor Party appears to be losing support, the Coalition appears to be gaining support, and One Nation is also polling strongly,” he said.

“This election will be a real test.

“Any faltering by the Greens could prove costly because it is always difficult to win seats back once they are lost.”

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