Australian Greens membership surges under David Shoebridge

The Australian Greens have experienced a significant membership increase following the election of Senator David Shoebridge as leader. In the week following his appointment, the party recorded 884 new members. Victorian party leader Ellen Sandell noted that 230 of these joined in a single week, describing it as the state branch’s “biggest surge in new members on record”.

This growth follows a pledge by Shoebridge to allow party members to participate in the selection of future leaders, a change from the current system where only sitting federal MPs vote in leadership contests. The leadership team, including deputy leader Steph Hodgins-May, has utilized social media to promote policies such as dismantling AUKUS and implementing a gas export tax.

The surge comes as the Greens prepare to target eight lower house seats in the upcoming Victorian state election on November 28. Despite this growth, the party's total membership remains significantly lower than that of One Nation, which reportedly grew by 40,000 members to reach between 60,000 and 70,000.