Election losses often scar political parties, and scarred political parties tend to overcorrect. Within 18 months, the Greens have shifted from constrained confrontation with Labor, to cooperation, and now to open rivalry. Each shift has arrived with a new leader – revealing the party’s continuing dilemmas, but also how narrowly its strategic direction is now decided.
Since losing three of their four lower house seats at the 2025 federal election, including that of leader Adam Bandt, the Greens have realised two opposing lessons.
