Sarah Hanson-Young and Mehreen Faruqi announce Greens leadership tilt after Larissa Waters’ shock resignation

High-profile Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has confirmed she will run for the party’s leadership, promising to bring the fight to Labor and One Nation after Larissa Waters’ shock resignation.

The party’s longest-serving federal MP, Hanson-Young confirmed on social media she was discussing a tilt at the leadership with colleagues on Tuesday, ahead of a two-day party retreat in Sydney, when the new leader will be chosen.

“I am speaking with my colleagues about the best way to help the Greens and have asked for their support to be the next leader,” she said in a statement.

“People deserve better than the failed policies and weak excuses from the Labor and Liberal parties and the hate peddling from Pauline Hanson’s One Nation.

“Our communities and environment are being hammered by a rigged system and they want politicians that will fight for them.

“I will fight with everything I’ve got.”

Party sources said Greens MPs were blindsided on Monday when Waters revealed she would quit the leadership to focus on treatment for kidney disease, after her health had declined significantly since being elected leader in May last year.

Frontrunners for the top job include the deputy leader, Mehreen Faruqi, the defence spokesperson, David Shoebridge, and Hanson-Young.

The Greens Treasury spokesperson, Nick McKim, could also contest the leadership.

Hanson-Young has previously sought the party’s leadership but been rebuffed by colleagues.

All positions will be declared vacant and negotiations could be held to avoid a ballot in the 11-person party room. A retreat to discuss policy and strategy had been planned before Waters quit, with the leadership question expected to be resolved by Thursday at the latest.

Shoebridge refused to comment on a possible tilt at the leadership on Tuesday.

He praised Waters for her bravery and called for the Greens to remain the “progressive party of choice”.

“I’m not here to rule anything in or anything out in terms of leadership,” he said. “That will be a matter … that the party room makes a decision on.”

A spokesperson for Faruqui said the New South Wales senator was considering her options.

Guardian Australia has been told negotiations could also include possible candidates for the deputy leadership, including Victorian Steph Hodgins-May and Queenslander Penny Allman-Payne.

The new leader will come under pressure to bring a more forceful approach to the job, amid frustrations that Waters’ more moderate style has stopped the party from exploiting a move by voters away from Labor and the Coalition.

Adam Bandt, and former MPs Max Chandler-Mather and Stephen Bates all lost their seats at the 2025 election, and One Nation has replaced the Greens as the third major force in federal politics.

In a letter to party members, Waters said she was sad that illness had “cut my time as leader short”. She talked up success in negotiations with Labor on environmental laws and the response to the Bondi beach terror attack.

“But our Greens movement is too important, and I want to pass the torch over to someone who is ready to take up the fight,” she said.

“In the face of shifting political sands ever since, we have been the only party to hold – and grow – our support in the polls against the rightwing surge.”

Waters will take medical leave before returning to the Senate.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, wished Waters well, and praised her constructive approach on Senate negotiations.

“When I spoke to her, she was going off to see further health checks today. And I wish her well,” he said.

“This is a job, and a leadership position for a minor party means a lot of travel and a lot of pressure … she wasn’t in a position to be able to do that job going forward. But she intends to stay in the Senate.”