Senator Larissa Waters

Larissa Waters was the first Greens Senator for Queensland, taking office in July 2011, and is currently the Greens Leader in the Senate and national spokesperson on Women and Democracy. Larissa is passionate about representative democracy and public participation, accountability in government, gender equality, and environmental justice. As Leader of the Greens in the Senate, she is working to improve federal laws to put an end to domestic violence, improve women’s economic security, transition to renewable energy sources, and clean up politics by ending corporate donations to political parties which buy favours for the big end of town. Before entering politics, Larissa worked as an environmental lawyer in the community sector for 8 years advising people how to use the law to protect the environment and was named Australian Young Environmental Lawyer of the Year 2010 by the Law Council of Australia. Her passion for the environment continues through advocacy for the Great Barrier Reef and addressing the climate crisis. Larissa's vision for Queensland is for a fair society and a clean economy which puts people, First Nations connection to country, national parks, animals and farmland ahead of the profits of fossil fuel giants and billionaires. Larissa lives in Brisbane with her two young daughters, the younger of whom caused a bit of a stir when she became the first baby to be breastfed in federal parliament!