30 Facts About Adam Bandt

Adam Paul Bandt was born on 11 March 1972 and is an Australian politician and former industrial lawyer who is the leader of the Australian Greens and federal MP for Melbourne.

Adam Bandt was elected leader following the resignation of Senator Richard Di Natale in February 2020.

Adam Bandt first contested the seat in 2007, narrowly losing to the Labor Party's Lindsay Tanner.

Adam Bandt's mother, a teacher and school principal, was born in England and arrived in Australia as a Ten Pound Pom.

Adam Bandt's father was a social worker who later ran a human resources consultancy.

Adam Bandt is of Barossa German descent on his father's side.

Adam Bandt moved to Perth at about the age of 10 and attended Hollywood Senior High School.

Adam Bandt graduated from Murdoch University in 1996 with Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degrees, and was awarded the Sir Ronald Wilson Prize for Academic Achievement, "which is given to the graduate who best combines distinguished academic performance in law units with qualities of character, leadership and all-round contribution to the life of the university".

Adam Bandt later stated he had left the party because of the removal of free university under Hawke and Keating, and blamed the Higher Education Contributions Scheme.

Adam Bandt stated the change "started making education so expensive and putting people in debt".

At Murdoch University, Adam Bandt was a student activist and member of the Left Alliance.

Adam Bandt was president of the student union and an active campaigner for higher living allowances for students, and for free education.

Adam Bandt had articles published on links between anti-terror legislation and labour laws and worked on issues facing outworkers in the textiles industry.

In 2006, Adam Bandt published a paper entitled "The Wages of Fear: Labour Laws and Terror".

Adam Bandt's thesis was embargoed for three years in the hopes of having it published as a book.

In 2009, Adam Bandt published a paper arguing that emergencies, such as the global financial crisis and war on terror, have been used by neoliberal "strong states" to "undermine basic rights".

Adam Bandt was preselected to stand as the Greens candidate for the federal division of Melbourne at the 2007 election against Labor's Lindsay Tanner, the incumbent Shadow Minister for Finance, who retained the seat.

Adam Bandt finished with 22.8 percent of the primary vote, an increase of 3.8 percent, and 45.3 percent of the two-candidate preferred vote after out-polling the Liberal party's Andrea Del Ciotto following the allocation of preferences.

Adam Bandt was preselected as Greens candidate for the second time, and ran successfully against a new Labor candidate, Cath Bowtell, at the 2010 federal election following Lindsay Tanner's retirement.

Adam Bandt received a primary vote of 36.2 percent and a two-party-preferred vote of 56 percent against Labor, a swing to him of 13.4 and 10.8 points, respectively.

Adam Bandt was elected on the ninth count after over three-quarters of Liberal preferences flowed to him, enabling him to overtake Bowtell and become the first Green candidate to win a seat in a general election.

In 2012, Adam Bandt was elected deputy leader of the Greens following Bob Brown's retirement from politics and as leader of the Greens.

In 2015, upon the change of Green leadership from Christine Milne to Richard Di Natale, Adam Bandt did not re-contest the deputy leadership saying he had a baby due in the upcoming weeks.

Adam Bandt achieved national headlines in February 2018 for accusing new senator Jim Molan of war crimes after it was revealed that Molan had shared anti-Muslim content made by far-right party Britain First on their Facebook account.

Adam Bandt has been described by the political journalist Paddy Manning as the first Greens leader from the Left wing of the party.

Adam Bandt has adopted a pro-mining message, but with a focus on expanding the lithium industry and other minerals necessary for a zero-carbon economy; rather than on coal.

On 19 June 2022, Adam Bandt had the Australian flag removed from behind the podium at a media conference of his, saying that it "represented lingering pain" for some Australians.

Adam Bandt is to the left of the historical Green Party.

Adam Bandt has been described as different to previous Greens leaders due to his emphasis on "public ownership, public wealth, and community-driven responses to the links between climate change and capitalism".

Adam Bandt's partner is former Labor staffer Claudia Perkins, who now works as a part-time yoga teacher.