Tasmanian environmental lawyer Vanessa Bleyer will move to federal politics after being named the replacement for outgoing Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson.
Ms Bleyer was among four candidates contesting a ballot of Greens party members to fill the casual vacancy in the Senate caused by Mr Whish-Wilson’s retirement.
She was announced as the successful candidate for the Australian Greens seat on Tuesday afternoon, following a vote run by the Tasmanian Electoral Commission.
Vanessa Bleyer is expected to replace Peter Whish-Wilson in the Senate in August. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)
Vanessa Bleyer campaigning for The Greens in Tasmania in 2025 (Instagram: vanessa4greens)
Ms Bleyer, 50, previously acted for the Circular Head Coastal Awareness network in its challenge to the Robbins Island wind farm, and also for residents of the Beauty Point Caravan Park as part of their ongoing dispute with park owners.
She was part of the legal team that successfully fought for a permanent injunction on native forest logging at Victoria’s Brown Mountain, the first time this was ever achieved in Australia.
Last year, Ms Bleyer also helped to secure a similar ruling regarding Tasmania’s Mount Tongatabu, which was the first permanent injunction against native forest logging ever granted in Tasmania.
Ms Bleyer said it was “now time” to end all native forest logging in Tasmania and Australia.
Ms Bleyer also highlighted housing insecurity in the state as a key concern that she would work to address in her new role.
Calling found after bushfire near family home
Ms Bleyer has spoken about how she found her calling in environmental campaigning.
“As a little girl, I walked through fire-ravaged native forest near my home, picking up the empty shells of turtles near the river,” reads the profile on the Greens website.
“I mourned their death. I watched the bright green leaves pop out of the black trunks and branches of the trees as the birds returned to sing. Then I knew. There is and will always be hope.
“In my 20s, I found where hope lives. It’s in the people and policy of the Greens.”
She also spoke about her family’s struggle with secure accommodation.
“When I was in high school, my father went away on business and didn’t come back
“My mother worked night shift at the hospital whilst I cared for my sister living with Downs Syndrome. My mother took over by day when I attended school and my evening job. We couldn’t earn enough to pay the mortgage and were evicted from our home.
Whish-Wilson to retire in August
It isn’t the first time Ms Bleyer ran for Senate — last year, she was the party’s second Senate candidate in the federal election.
She won’t take up a spot in the Senate until Mr Whish-Wilson officially retires.
Mr Whish-Wilson said he would tender his resignation in the first week of August, and expected Ms Bleyer would assume her new role shortly after.
He was teary-eyed as he introduced Ms Bleyer to the media in Hobart on Tuesday afternoon.
Peter Whish-Wilson gave a wedge-tailed eagle badge, which was given to him by Bob Brown, to Vanessa Bleyer. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)
He said his journey from Launceston that morning had evoked memories of a similar drive in 2012, ahead of his unveiling as Bob Brown’s replacement in the Senate.
“That morning, I felt very nervous, but I also felt very excited and optimistic about the future, and I’ve got to say I felt exactly the same this morning,” Mr Whish-Wilson said.
He gifted Ms Bleyer a wedge-tailed eagle pin from his suit jacket, which he had “worn with pride” since it was given to him by Bob Brown at his unveiling.
Mr Whish-Wilson said he had been friends with Ms Bleyer since they met fighting the Tamar Valley Pulp Mill in 2007, and that she had even worked as his lawyer.
He said she would be a “very welcome contribution” to the party room and to Australian politics.
“Her courage, her integrity, her work effort, her big heart,” Mr Whish-Wilson said.
“I can’t work out if it’s a good time or a bad time to be leaving politics with the state of the world … but I’ll sleep well tonight knowing Vanessa is stepping into the Senate.”
Greens Senator Nick McKim (right) said Greens members who voted for Peter Whish-Wilson’s replacement had “chosen wisely” in electing Vanessa Bleyer to the Senate. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)
State Greens MP congratulates new senator
Tasmanian Greens MP Tabatha Badger, Bob Brown Foundation’s Alistair Allan, and environmental campaigner Scott Jordan were the other unsuccessful candidates.
Tasmanian Greens state director Gemma Kitsos said Ms Bleyer won the most votes during a six-week member ballot run by the Tasmanian Electoral Commission.
Ms Bleyer secured 42.25 per cent of the vote.
Ms Badger received 30.47 per cent, Mr Jordan got 15.82 per cent, and Mr Allan won 11.45 per cent.
Greens MP Tabatha Badger in front of Parliament House in Hobart, Tasmania, April 9th, 2024. (ABC News: Luke Bowden)
Ms Badger was first elected to the Tasmanian Parliament in the seat of Lyons in 2024, before being re-elected in 2025 with just over 7 per cent of the vote.
In a statement, she said it was a “big decision” to run for Senate as a sitting MP and that she remains completely committed to continuing to serve the people of Lyons.