Dorinda Cox, senator from West Australia has quit the Greens party and joined prime minister Anthony Albanese’s Labor Party.Cox’s move is a big blow to the Greens, which has already lost three of its four lower-house seats, including that of former leader Adam Bandt. While the Greens had maintained their strength in the Senate, Cox’s departure weakened their numbers.Cox informed about her decision to join the Labor Party to new Greens leader Larissa Waters just 90 minutes before PM Albanese held an afternoon press conference with her in Perth.“I have reached a conclusion after deep and careful reflection that my values and priorities are more aligned with Labor than the Greens,” Cox said.“I’ve worked hard to make Australia fairer and much more reconciled. But recently, I’ve lost some confidence in the capacity for the Greens to assist me in being able to progress this”, she added.Cox still has three years left in her Senate term. However, she was facing pressure inside the party after reports revealed her office lost 20 staff in three years, with several complaints made about the workplace. Cox denied any wrongdoing, but apologised for any distress caused.Albanese said the complaints were looked into and handled properly. “We reviewed all past concerns and followed proper procedures,” he said.“They were all dealt with in Senator Cox’s case and dealt with appropriately”, he added.Albanese said Cox made the decision without any superior motive. She joined for the same reason he did years ago—to make a real difference by being part of a party in government.“You want to make a difference. The way that you make a difference is by being a member of a party of government. The values that Dorinda has are perfectly consistent with the values of the Labor Party”, Albanese said.However, the party switch by Cox doesn’t give Labor control of the Senate. Labor now has 29 senators and the Greens have 10, meaning the government still needs Greens support to pass laws if the coilition doesn’t back them.Greens leader Waters said she was disappointed with Cox’s decision. She believed Cox could have made a bigger impact by staying with the Greens. Waters questioned her values by referring to the Labor party’s recent approval of a gas project.“Senator Cox has said that her values align with the Labor Party.This is the same Labor Party who this week approved the climate-wrecking North West Shelf gas project, which Unesco advises will destroy significant First Nations heritage and ancient rock art”, she added.A former police officer, Cox was viewed as one of the most moderate voices within the Greens. She was a Labor Party member before joining the Greens and was closely associated with several Labor leaders.She is now the second indigenous senator to leave the Greens in recent years. Before her, senator Lidia Thorpe also quit and is now an independent politician.
