“There’s no animosity there. It’s obviously disappointing for us to lose a Greens senator, but Dorinda has said her values lie there.”

“We’ve opposed that. But Senator Cox has made her decision that that party is a better fit for her, and we wish her nothing but the best.”

Mr Albanese said Senator Cox had approached him about the switch. Source: AAP / Richard Wainwright/AAPImage

Asked about Senator Cox becoming the second Indigenous woman to quit the Greens – after now-independent senator Lydia Thorpe – Senator Waters said they had “very different reasons” for leaving.

In 2024, she suggested the Albanese government was “not interested” in closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

Labor will still require the support of either the Greens or the coalition in the Senate to pass legislation.