Christine Milne Has Just Resigned As Leader Of The Australian Greens; Won’t Contest The Next Election
The Greens are voting on a new leader at 11:30.
A few minutes ago, Greens Leader Christine Milne dropped a bit of a bombshell:
Feeling optimistic, proud & sad to announce I’m not contesting 2016 election, and so I resign as Leader of Australian Greens
— Christine Milne (@senatormilne) May 6, 2015
“My decision to resign today is one I made with my family,” Milne said in a statement. “After 25 years in politics I am looking forward to spending more time in my beautiful home state of Tasmania, with friends and family, and especially as I am soon to be a grandmother.”
Statement on Greens Leader Christine Milne’s resignation #auspol pic.twitter.com/ktwucPf4Vy
— Political Alert (@political_alert) May 6, 2015
Milne is only the second person to lead the Greens since the party formally adopted leadership positions in 2005. She took over in 2012 after longtime leader and Greens co-founder Bob Brown resigned, and has been a senior figure in the federal party since 2004, and was the leader of the Tasmanian Greens for around 11 years before that.
Apparently the Greens party room is meeting at 11:30 to vote on a new Parliamentary leader, giving everyone only about forty minutes to play Leadership Speculation which is very rude considering how fun it is, really. Presumably the frontrunner is deputy leader Adam Bandt, but considering the Greens party room is only eleven people big it could be anyone’s guess. Today just got fun!
Bye Christine!
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Feature image via Christine Milne/Facebook.