The Greens were anti-establishment. Now it looks like they’re a part of it

October 2, 2026 — 5:00am

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Bookmark this week. If Labor suffers a shock catastrophe at the next federal election, there’s a good chance this will have been the inflection point.

Yes, things have been going south for a while. We’ve seen the declining polling numbers for the government, and for Anthony Albanese himself – the former most recently hitting the party’s lowest point since 2012. One Nation’s support is now baked in, and is beginning to nibble away at Labor’s margins having already sacked the Coalition’s fortresses.

For all that, though, when it comes to actual seats in the parliament, Labor has found itself in a protective cocoon of sorts. If the events of this week play out a certain way, that cocoon could be vulnerable.

I’m not just speaking of the fact that interest rates reached a 15-year high this week. Or that this news was followed by still-high inflation figures that raise the very real prospect of another rate rise in November. All this compounds the economic pain of this era, perhaps sends things to a tipping point, making the time ripe for further One Nation advances. But the wildcard, the thing that sets this week apart, is on Labor’s other political flank, where the Greens installed David Shoebridge as leader, replacing Larissa Waters, who stepped down for health reasons.

David Shoebridge is one of parliament’s best operators. His new task as Greens leader is far broader

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© The Sydney Morning Herald