Larissa Waters was re-elected to the Senate for a six-year term in the 2019 federal election. 

This huge, people-powered campaign aimed to build a positive future for all Queenslanders, with free childcare, free TAFE and university, dental into Medicare, affordable housing, a transition to 100 per cent renewable energy by 2030 and long-term, stable jobs for people currently working in the mining industry. 

Larissa was first elected to the Senate in 2010 and has been Queensland’s leading progressive voice in our federal parliament for almost a decade. She is co-deputy leader of the Australian Greens and is the Greens spokesperson for Women, Democracy, Mining & Resources, Tourism, and Gambling.

Larissa has campaigned with the community both inside and outside our parliament to improve the lives of all Queenslanders.  She firmly believes we can fix our broken system and have decisions made in the interests of people and the planet – if we clean up politics by ending corporate donations to political parties.

Larissa and the Greens have campaigned with the community against extremely damaging policy, including the complete slashing of penalty rates. 

They have led the way on:

• Establishing a Senate Enquiry into Australia’s domestic violence crisis, exposing harsh cuts the Liberal government made to the sector, resulting in some of those cuts being reversed;
• Stopping the dumping of capital dredge spoil into the waters of the Great Barrier Reef
• The Banking Royal Commission, exposing the disgraceful conduct of the big banks and the havoc they have wreaked on our communities;
• A Royal Commission into the abuse of people with a disability.
• Campaigning for the creation of a strong federal anti-corruption watchdog to hold the federal government to account, including introducing 4 bills to the parliament, following this long campaign Labor and now the LNP agree we need a national anti-corruption watchdog
• Ending the stranglehold the coal and gas sector has on our democracy, including introducing bills to ban gas and thermal coal extraction and transition to 100% renewable energy, looking after workers and the environment during the transition and looking after our climate

Before federal parliament, Larissa worked as an environmental lawyer in the community sector for eight years, helping communities to use the law to protect the environment. She was named 2010 Australian Young Environmental Lawyer of the Year by the Law Council of Australia.

Larissa lives in Brisbane with her partner and two daughters, aged 10 and 2, the youngest being the first child to be breastfed in the federal parliament.