NSW senator had been urged to stand down by members aligned with leader Richard Di Natale after losing preselection for the top spot on Senate ticket

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Lee Rhiannon has announced she will retire as a Greens senator in mid-August but says she is “not resigning from politics”.

She announced the decision in a Facebook video on Friday, accompanied by a statement noting that her retirement comes 10 months ahead of her term expiring in mid-2019.

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In November 2017 Rhiannon lost preselection for the top spot on the Greens NSW Senate ticket to the NSW upper house member Mehreen Faruqi.

Since then she has been under pressure to resign from party members aligned with the federal leader, Richard Di Natale, who cite a convention that senators should vacate their seats to successful challengers who can then recontest the election as an incumbent.

Factional infighting erupts in NSW Greens over Lee Rhiannon claims Read more

In the statement Rhiannon “warmly” congratulated Faruqi and said she would look forward to assisting in coming state and federal election campaigns.

She was “not resigning from politics” and her “political life [is] to continue”, but she did not specify in what capacity.

Senator Lee Rhiannon (@leerhiannon) Today I’m announcing that I will retire as a Senator in mid-August 2018. Read my full statement here: https://t.co/Bu7Fl7Ctal

Rhiannon discussed the rise of social movements and said she had always believed a core part of the work of the Greens was “building and supporting progressive campaigns both inside and outside of parliament”.

In an email to members, Rhiannon was more frank, noting the “limitations of the parliamentary system” in achieving the Greens’ four pillars of a fair, just, ecologically sustainable and peaceful world.

She warned that the Greens must not “succumb to the inevitable negative forces that all parliamentary parties must face. Those forces have corrupted the larger parties and we do not want to follow in their footsteps.”

Rhiannon told Guardian Australia her parliamentary time “is finished” and she “very much” sees her political future outside parliament.

Before leaving in mid-August she said she would fight the “massive overreach” of the Coalition’s foreign interference package and push for a non-denominational opening to parliamentary sessions instead of the lord’s prayer.

Liberal senator Linda Reynolds and Labor MP Andrew Giles – the chair and deputy chair of the joint standing committee on electoral matters – wished Rhiannon well while noting their political differences:

Linda Reynolds (@lindareynoldswa) Lee, I wish you well. While ideologically we are poles apart, I have enjoyed working with you on parliamentary committees and respect your committment to JSCEM. See you on the other side of the street!

Rhiannon, first elected to the federal Senate in 2010, is the central figure of the socialist left of the Greens.



In July she spectacularly fell out with Di Natale, declaring she was “disappointed” in his leadership after she was suspended from the party room over schools funding.

Andrew Giles MP (@andrewjgiles) Can’t say we’ve always agreed but I’ve been fortunate to work alongside @leerhiannon - an consistent advocate for her principles. I’ll miss her, after August, and wish her all the best. I reckon her activism will continue! https://t.co/3HoJ26rHCT

Rhiannon has also been criticised by the former leader, Bob Brown, over her control of the NSW branch which has maintained its independence due to the Greens’ federal structure.

In a statement Di Natale thanked Rhiannon for “her many years of dedicated service”, wished her “all the best in her future endeavours” and said he looked forward to working with Faruqi when she joined the federal party room.

“Lee has made a significant contribution in improving our democracy through political donations reform, as well as advancing animal welfare,” he said.



Rhiannon said her time in parliament “has been fruitful for our struggles and policy outcomes”.



“I am proud of the achievements we have gained together,” she said.

Rhiannon holds the portfolios of housing, democracy, animal welfare, gun control, local government and industry. She nominated a series of causes about which she is passionate including renationalising public services, Palestinian self-determination, union rights, climate action, free public education and animal rights.

Although Rhiannon lost preselection to Faruqi, her faction is still ascendant in NSW, where her allies David Shoebridge and Abigail Boyd were selected to top the state upper house ticket ahead of rivals Jeremy Buckingham and Dawn Walker.

Rhiannon’s departure will bring Faruqi into the federal Senate. She will be replaced by Di Natale’s former chief of staff, Cate Faehrmann, in the NSW upper house.