What will the Greens do in the Senate without Lidia Thorpe?

It’s not easy being green, as Kermit sang. He is perhaps not the only creature of that colour feeling this morning like a bit of a muppet.

As Parliament resumes, and the Albanese government begins the process of reshaping the country, the Greens have lost one senator with the departure of Lidia Thorpe — and much of their power in the Senate. As a chaser, on the same day, they also lost control of Yarra City Council in Melbourne, much of which lies across party leader Adam Bandt’s seat. Smaller potatoes, but this was a majority-Greens council, five out of nine seats, with a council-elected mayor. What’s happening among the leafy Greens?

Look, the first thing to note is that what is remarkable is not that there has been a Greens defection in the Senate, but that there haven’t been more, or sooner. The Greens have been in the Senate for more than 30 years, and it is a party founded on a set of abstract values rather than sectional interests, with a strong emphasis on the individual conscience. That it has kept together through some difficult decisions and compromises is due not only to the Greens being a real global movement, but also the high quality of leadership they have had over the years.