Steph Hodgins-May Becomes Greens Deputy Leader, Turning Personal Tragedy into Climate Advocacy

Steph Hodgins-May was elected deputy leader of the Australian Greens on the 17th anniversary of her mother’s death in the 2009 tsunami. She entered the Senate in 2024, filling the vacancy left by retiring Victorian senator Janet Rice. Her elevation follows a decade-long campaign career and a primary-vote result of just under 30 percent with a 5.5 percent swing in the 2022 federal election for the Macnamara seat.

The Guardian

Born in Ballarat to a farming family, Hodgins-May worked as a corporate lawyer before a 2009 visit to Samoa—prompted by her mother’s death—made her view desk work as “completely and utterly meaningless.” She left law, served as a support negotiator at the United Nations, and later worked for AusAid on climate and food-security issues in the Pacific. After returning to Australia she judged the nation’s environmental promises as “unraveled,” prompting her to join the Greens in 2011, inspired by Bob Brown’s 2003 parliamentary protest. She ran unsuccessfully in Ballarat (2013), Port Melbourne (2016) and Macnamara (2019, 2022) before finally winning a Senate seat.

The Guardian

Greens insiders say she retains a lower-house, community-driven mindset despite being a relatively new Senate member.

The Guardian

Hodgins-May emphasizes urgency, citing the sudden deaths of both parents as a catalyst for her climate-justice agenda. She criticises the government’s inability to capitalise on growing anti-establishment sentiment and signals a more combative approach to leadership, urging the Greens to be ready for a “Mamdani-effect” moment. She remains optimistic that the party’s heightened profile will translate into concrete environmental action.

The Guardian

• “She’s determined to not just take a seat, but to change things for the better for Australians, and that is not least for the Australian environment,” — Bob Brown

The Guardian