EMMA ALBERICI, PRESENTER: He has been a doctor, a farmer, a semi-professional sportsman - and now a politician.

But Greens leader Richard Di Natale scoffs at suggestions he is Parliament's Renaissance man.

With his new trademark black skivvy, he's pitching to inner-city voters, hoping to sway those disillusioned with the major parties.

But as our political correspondent David Lipson discovered in this week's Poll Position, the Victorian senator still enjoys hugging the occasional tree.

(David Lipson and Richard Di Natale get into a car)

DAVID LIPSON, REPORTER: Richard Di Natale, thanks for joining us...

RICHARD DI NATALE, GREENS LEADER: David Lipson, how are you?

DAVID LIPSON: ...on Poll Position, skivvy and all.

RICHARD DI NATALE: Pleasure.

DAVID LIPSON: Is this just what you always wear on a Sunday?

RICHARD DI NATALE: Well, it's a cold...

DAVID LIPSON: Is this just what you always wear on a Sunday?

RICHARD DI NATALE: It's a cold winter's Melbourne day. And I've got to tell you: I've always been a fan of the skivvy. I don't know why it caused that much sort of controversy.

DAVID LIPSON: The black Wiggle? The Green Wiggle?

RICHARD DI NATALE: Well, I'll take that. Yeah, yeah. I'm happy to be the black Wiggle. That's fine.

Let me tell you: like, you could wear a shirt and a scarf; or you could wear a skivvy and you don't have to worry about the scarf. You know, like, you combine...

DAVID LIPSON: You don't worry about the way you look or...?

RICHARD DI NATALE: You can combine... (laughs) Hey, like I said: you'll be eating your words soon, David. You'll be seeing skivvies all around Melbourne soon.

DAVID LIPSON: All right. Well, I'll get some notes off you when we stop rolling. (Laughs)

(Richard Di Natale drives David Lipson through the streets of Melbourne)

DAVID LIPSON: A lot's been written up about your back story: semi-pro Aussie rules player; GP; went into politics. Are you (laughs) the Renaissance man that some people say you are?

RICHARD DI NATALE: Oh... I haven't heard that one. Oh, no, I've just been really lucky. I mean, I'm fortunate that I had, you know, two parents who valued education and did everything they could.

You know, Dad came from Italy; Mum also from Italy. Typical migrant story: Mum's family set up a fruit shop. Dad learnt his English while he was doing his apprenticeship to become an electrician.

I always enjoyed sport. It was always a big part of my life. I was a very active kid and played, you know, footy, cricket, soccer - you know, sometimes all on the same weekend.

DAVID LIPSON (laughs): Yeah, yeah.

RICHARD DI NATALE: And so it's always been a big part of my life. And I was, you know, able to study medicine; always thought I'd end up being a doctor. Really, politics came a bit later in life.

DAVID LIPSON: I did hear a little story about you. Was it the first time you were in surgery, or one of the times you were in surgery? You got a bit under the weather. Was there... Is there a story along those lines? (Laughs)

RICHARD DI NATALE: Yes. It's really embarrassing, actually.

DAVID LIPSON (laughs): That's what I want.

RICHARD DI NATALE: It was really embarrassing. It was while at med school training. And one of our rotations was with a general practice. And it was... I think it was on a Sunday and it was the day after a big medical ball.

So you know, the Med Balls were notorious.

And unfortunately I had drunk too much and was suffering from a bit of a hangover. And we were in the surgery and the GP was taking a cyst out of a person's mouth.

And I could - you know, he got - he was putting the stitches in. I could feel the blood draining from my face. And I knew I just had one more stitch and I could hang on, before I could sort of walk out.

And as he was putting the last stitch in, I fainted and I fell backwards. And my head smacked into a window and I broke the window.

DAVID LIPSON: Wow.

RICHARD DI NATALE: Lucky: it was one of those safety windows that had the wire in it, so it didn't shatter.

Lucky you were... well, I was going to say: you were already in the doctor's surgery? (Laughs)

RICHARD DI NATALE: Yeah. That's right. I was going to say: he would have been stitching up someone else.

DAVID LIPSON: Yeah.

RICHARD DI NATALE: And of course, when I sort of finally came to, I woke up. And the doctor sort of... came to me and the poor guy who was having his cyst removed was sort of sitting up with, I think, the stitch dangling out of his mouth...

(David Lipson laughs)

RICHARD DI NATALE: ...bit of blood dribbling down his chin; you know, the doctor trying to work out who he needed to attend to.

DAVID LIPSON: Wow. That's impressive.

I noticed on your website: the photo of you on the front page for the Greens is you standing in what looks like a Melbourne laneway, not out in a forest. Was that deliberate?

RICHARD DI NATALE: Not really. I think there is a temptation in politics to over-analyse every syllable, every photo, every image.

The truth with that is that we had a photographer for an hour and we were in Melbourne. The office was in Melbourne, so (laughs)... trying...

DAVID LIPSON: Where's the conspiracy in that? (Laughs)

RICHARD DI NATALE: Yeah, try and find a famous landmark or something that Melbourne's famous for.

No, we've got lots of photos of me, for example...

DAVID LIPSON: Hugging trees?

RICHARD DI NATALE: Yeah, yeah: in the Central Highlands. No, there's nothing more therapeutic than getting a tree and giving it a big hug.

(David Lipson laughs)

DAVID LIPSON: You're not, it seems, the type of Green that would chain himself to bulldozers, get arrested. You've said that publicly: that that's not the sort of direction that you, perhaps, would take?

RICHARD DI NATALE: Well, that's - I haven't - It's not that I, It's not that I wouldn't do it. It's just that I haven't been arrested at a protest.

DAVID LIPSON: So you might in the future?

RICHARD DI NATALE: Oh, well, who knows, you know? Who knows? You know, you can never say never about these things. No, I'm... those activists...

DAVID LIPSON: So you're a big fan of public disobedience in the right circumstances?

RICHARD DI NATALE: Oh, absolutely. I mean, they're heroes. One of the reasons I actually - you know, I've got this very vivid memory as a young person.

One of my uncles, who was the black sheep of the family, got arrested at the Franklin Dam protest - which, of course in an Italian household was a source of shame.

I think I saw a photo of him on the Moreland Leader, which was the local paper, you know, being arrested on the Franklin. And my grandmother, I think, started wearing black from that point. But I just remember thinking the guy was a hero. Good on him for standing up for what he believed in - and something that I believed in as well.

So: no, no, those people have my utmost respect.

DAVID LIPSON: I hear that sometimes in the party room you are referred to as "Dr Killjoy", because you want to put a tax on everything fun. (Laughs) Is that right?

RICHARD DI NATALE (laughs): Well, that... That's very cruel. And I suspect I know...

Well, I mean, I think a couple of things: gambling is one of them. I just think, you know, when it comes to gambling: we've got a huge issue with pokies. We missed the boat. We could have had reform around pokies in the last election. Unfortunately, Labor went to water when the gambling industry took them on.

DAVID LIPSON: Is there, though, a bit of biting truth in that sort of nickname, "Dr Killjoy": that, you know, we do risk that whole "nanny state" thing: that everything fun: sugar - I mean, is that the next thing to be taxed? Everything we enjoy, you sort of get a smack on the bottom for by the tax man? Is that...

RICHARD DI NATALE: No, not at all. I mean, just look at the tobacco example. No-one is suggesting - or, at least, I'm not suggesting we should ban smoking. But we should reflect the fact that it's an activity that does cause harm to individuals and to the economy.

And taxation, advertising, availability: all of those things are things we need to look at to regulate those products. And I think the same can be said of other harmful activities, like gambling.

Well, I said when I took on the leadership, that we're a party that represents progressive mainstream values. And I strongly believe that. I think most Australians who have a progressive outlook, when it comes to the environment, want to see it protected. I think they want a bit more decency towards refugees and asylum seekers.

Now, it might not be a majority view, but there is a strong, progressive group of people who feel unrepresented by the old parties and who increasingly, in bigger numbers, are turning to the Greens.

DAVID LIPSON: You talk about the 20 or 30 per cent support: so there's 70 or 80 per cent who don't support the Greens: and often they vehemently oppose the Greens. They hate you guys. Does that ever upset you?

RICHARD DI NATALE: Not at all.

I mean, but again, just to put that in context: no party in Australia has majority support from the Australian community. I mean, within that group of 70-80 per cent, half of them probably hate the Liberal Party; half of them hate the Labor Party.

And one of the things, I suppose, that's disappointing in Australian politics is: it has become

increasingly polarised. And I think what you're seeing is: you're seeing policy that should be in the national interest becoming compromised.

I suppose: look at the superannuation debate that we've heard over the past week or so. We've been leading the charge on it. Now, we've got all three parties in Australia who agree that we have to reform superannuation to end it as an unfair tax break.

And yet here we are, you know, in an election campaign, when you've got the Labor Party joining with the Institute of Public Affairs, for goodness' sake, to criticise the Coalition's policy. And good policy is the thing that in the end might suffer when we all agree that there needs to be reform to superannuation.

DAVID LIPSON: So, Richard, I've asked you to choose a song: a driving song. Bohemian Rhapsody?

RICHARD DI NATALE: Yep. I reckon that's a good driving song.

DAVID LIPSON: What's behind this?

RICHARD DI NATALE: Oh, well, I'm a Queen fan. I was a Queen fan. And I reckon I've spent many a long car trip with friends as a young kid singing to Bohemian - well, I wouldn't call it singing. In my case, it's more like murdering the lyrics to the song.

And you know, 'Wayne's World' gave it a whole other lease of life.

DAVID LIPSON: It's very 'Wayne's World'.

RICHARD DI NATALE: It is very 'Wayne's World'.

DAVID LIPSON (sings along briefly): Goodbye, everybody...

And were you actually a big fan of Queen?

RICHARD DI NATALE: Yeah. I was, actually. Yeah, yeah. Queen was a big... As a young kid, I really, really liked Queen's stuff, particularly a lot of their earlier stuff.

And you know, I was: Australian rock, a Chisels man. A bit of Acca Dacca. But my tastes have sort of become a bit more eclectic over the journey.

(David plays a flourish of air guitar)

RICHARD DI NATALE: Yeah, a bit of air guitar.

DAVID LIPSON: Bit of air guitar. Bring it on.

RICHARD DI NATALE: You don't want me singing, you know. Birds fall out of the sky when I sing so...

(David laughs)

RICHARD DI NATALE AND DAVID LIPSON (sing): I see a little silhouette of a man / Scaramouche, scaramouche, will you to the fandango? / Thunderbolt and lightning, very, very frightening me / Galileo, Galileo / Galileo, Galileo / Galileo, Figaro / Magnifico-o-o-o / I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me...

(The guitar solo begins. They nod their heads 'Wayne's World'-style)

RICHARD DI NATALE: I've been in a few mosh pits in my day, I have to say.

DAVID LIPSON: Have you?

RICHARD DI NATALE: Yes. Yep.

DAVID LIPSON: I reckon Freddie might have rocked a skivvy at some point.

RICHARD DI NATALE (laughs): He rocked everything else.

You won't see me in a white leotard: I guarantee you that.

DAVID LIPSON (laughs): Very good. Very good.