Greens Leader Richard Di Natale Quits, Effective Immediately

Greens leader Richard Di Natale has announced he's stepping down from the party's top job and will leave parliament altogether.

While acknowledging the decision as 'incredibly difficult', he explained that he wants to spend time with his wife Lucy Quarterman and their two sons, Luca and Ben.

Speaking at a press conference, Mr Di Natale said: "I just want to be more present in their lives. That's the bottom line.

"My boys are nine and 11, and in a few years' time, they are probably not going to want to know their old man. At the moment, they still think he's OK. My wife has been a huge support for me in my career, and I want to be able to support her in her career.

"If I was to contest (the next election), I'm really committing to at least four or five years, and I couldn't do that. I couldn't do that to my family."

Richard Di Natale/Facebook

As a result of the decision, a vote to elect a new Greens leader will take place tomorrow.

Senator Larissa Waters and the Greens' sole lower house MP, Adam Bandt, will be contenders for the role, according to news.com.au.

Mr Di Natale will ensure that he won't linger around and make the new person's job a tough road to walk.

"I can't believe we have some of these jokers hanging around causing problems for future leaders," he said, arguably throwing shade at Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten.

"The best thing you can do once you've made a decision to resign is to leave your phone number with the person who follows you and let them know you are always there, should they need your advice, but only if they want your advice.

Kate Ausburn/Flickr

"So I'm going to resign as a senator, once my replacement is chosen, and I expect that will happen at some point towards the middle of the year."

The soon-to-be former leader of the Greens says it has been a difficult decision to weigh up, however it's one that he has the backing of from his family.

In a video posted to the Greens Facebook page, Richard told his followers: "It's been an honour to lead the Greens in the federal parliament and fight every day for the values that millions of Australians care so deeply about.

"It's not a decision I've come to lightly, because leading this incredible movement for nearly five years has been one of the biggest honours of my life."

He hasn't revealed what he will do with his time, however he mentioned he would like to continue championing the things he did in politics, including climate change, health, all of the issues facing First Nations people, and tackling inequality.

Topics: News, Australia, politics

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

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