In his first address to the National Press Club, federal Greens leader David Shoebridge confronted many of those who have done their best to demolish what he stands for, and came out still standing.
In some ways it was a populist speech, promising money for the masses to be paid for ‘by the one per cent’ and a proper tax on resource exporters, but Shoebridge also took on the furore around the Australian Greens’ Ukraine policy, attacked ‘vampire US tech bros’ and reiterated the need for peace with justice in Gaza.
He said that as the climate crisis worsened, Australia’s economic and political systems were failing ordinary people, with the traditional deal between citizens and the government breaking down, fuelling the rise of the extreme right. He argued that privatisation under Labor and the Liberals had made services more expensive, while profit-driven models in childcare, aged care and housing put returns to shareholders ahead of people’s needs.
Shoebridge produced a couple of startling graphs showing the rise in Australian income inequality since the 1980s, with the wealth of the richest 1 per cent climbing steadily as ordinary incomes flatlined, and the richest 0.1 per cent climbing above the top of the chart.
‘The top 1 per cent now have more wealth than the bottom 75 per cent combined,’ he said. ‘This is how they buy politics. Their wealth is so extreme that they can buy a politician a plane or an office block and it means no more to them than us buying a friend lunch…
‘There is a strong and powerful desire for change in our country, but the question is, what kind of change?’
David Shoebridge said he originally wanted to be a historian, but then became a lawyer, where he saw ‘proud working people get injured, and then be thrown away as though they were disposable.’
After telling the story of a man who lost his foot in an industrial accident, Shoebridge said the stark reality of the unfair system struck in his mind, contributing to his decision to enter politics.
Fighting Labor and inflation
With Labor having largely abandoned its historic role as a defender of working people, he said the government must accept some responsibility for the rise of One Nation from political minnows to becoming a major electoral force, which had happened on their watch.
‘Labor has settled for a managed slow decline, tinkering around the edges and telling us that anything substantial, anything meaningful, anything that might actually work, well it’s just impossible,’ he said. ‘We’re not here to appeal to Labor’s obviously missing conscience. We are here to replace Labor.’
He noted that societal change had always come from the ground up, including the eight hour day and the vote itself. ‘That’s how we got Medicare, public education, and safe workplaces. They weren’t just gifted. They were demanded and achieved by people coming together with hope and belief.’
On the inflationary risks of redistributing some wealth to those at the bottom, Shoebridge said record corporate profits were actually the main issue. ‘Instead of tackling that head-on, taxing those profits back to reality, the accepted wisdom is to make mortgage holders – the very people being crushed by the cost of living… to make them pay the cost of this through ever rising interest rates.’
On the rise of racism, he said migrants who came to Australia to build a life, to start a family, to build community, and make the country stronger, were being treated as ‘political footballs in a corporate-dominated economy. That’s dehumanising, and it’s wrong.’
Addressing Australia’s wider challenges, Shoebridge said, ‘We’re more lonely. We’ve stopped being citizens. And we’ve been turned into consumers. Life is more dog eat dog. We work more. We have time for fewer friendships. And we’re in the middle of a national mental health crisis.
‘Nobody voted to be turned from a citizen to a consumer, and up until now, nobody has had a choice,’ he said. ‘The Greens have a vision of a far better future, and it’s time to put the interests of people and our one little planet ahead of the profits of corporations and the ultra-wealthy.’
A rapid rise in Greens membership since Shoebridge’s ascension as party leader suggests that a more significant role for his party might not be a pipe dream, despite the implacable opposition of the Australian establishment, and their media minions, many of whom were in the room.
Ukraine
More than a quarter of the National Press Club’s sponsors are currently involved with the international arms trade, including Thales (currently under investigation for corruption in multiple countries), which didn’t stop Shoebridge from reiterating the Greens’ view that Australian taxpayers should not be supporting arms dealers, even in military support of Ukraine.
He said his party stood firmly with Ukraine against Russia’s illegal invasion, and that the Australian government should match the sanctions regime put in place by the European Union, to prevent sales of Russian oil in Australia from propping up Putin’s war, having been funnelled into the country via third party refineries in India, Singapore and Brunei.
‘In 2025 alone, Australians paid some $2.7 billion for Russian oil,’ Shoebridge said. ‘That’s almost double the amount that the Australian government has given to support Ukraine throughout the entire course of the war.
‘What we say is, stop the blood money going to Russia, cut off their ability to make war against the people of Ukraine.’
With the allegations surrounding Greens WA representative Jordon Steele-John and incomplete reporting on the party’s Ukraine policy dominating the national conversation, it’s been hard for Senator Shoebridge’s central message on Australian inequality to cut through so far. As it stands, the Greens need to effectively triple their primary vote to seriously challenge Labor federally. Is such a thing remotely possible?
David Shoebridge appears to believe it is. As he put it, ‘Millions of people in this country feel that politics as usual isn’t giving them answers. People want the basics. They want connections, safety, a roof over their head, a sense of purpose, a good life they can actually afford. Right now, politics isn’t delivering any of that…
‘We need to seize this moment. We need to restore people’s faith and belief in politics, and show that better days are possible. At a turning point like this, the Greens have a responsibility to offer a different, positive vision of a far fairer future.
‘Our task is profound.’
Originally from Canberra, David Lowe is an award-winning filmmaker, writer and photographer with particular interests in the environment and politics. He’s known for his campaigning work with Cloudcatcher Media.
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