Greens Co-Founder Sues Party After Expulsion Over Women’s Rights Comments

Greens founder Drew Hutton isn’t letting go of his Greens membership without a fight.

Party supporters attend the Greens national campaign launch at Black Hops Brewery in Brisbane, Australia on May 16, 2022. Dan Peled/Getty Images

Co-founder of the Australian Greens and founder of the Queensland branch of the party Drew Hutton is going to court in a bid to have his life membership reinstated.

Hutton had initially had his membership suspended for making comments about women’s rights amid the transgender movement, with one post reading: “I believe in full human rights for trans people at the same time as supporting the right of women to be safe from patriarchal oppression.”

In July, the Queensland Greens officially expelled him from the party over his comments.

In a statement on social media, Hutton said he had now lodged paperwork to sue them in an attempt to win back his place.

“The Queensland Greens have been arguing that I broke the rules and, therefore, the party expelled me in a proper process,” he said.

“Well. I intend to show, in the Supreme Court, that I did not break any rules and that it was the Greens’ leadership who broke their own rules and denied me—and all the other members that have been wrongly expelled by Greens parties around Australia—natural justice and procedural fairness.”

Activist Drew Hutton wearing a billboard in support of women's rights. The co-founder of the Australian Greens and founder of the Queensland Greens, is now at odds with the party he founded over his support of women's rights. He remains active. Courtesy of Drew Hutton

Reportedly, the vote against Hutton was 75-23 to end his party membership.

Hutton has accused the party of developing into an “authoritarian cult” and feels he has been prevented from expressing free opinion.

Speaking to The Epoch Times on a previous occasion, Hutton said the inability to compromise or engage in civil discussion was stunting the party’s public policy.

“How are you going to get good policy on an issue if people can’t put their views forward,” he said.

“There’s a small group of people in the Queensland Greens trying to purge the party of anybody who disagrees with them.”

Hutton hasn’t fully abandoned the party ethos—he still supports a lot of its work.

But he has admonished the “fundamentalist, black and white view” of what rights should be.

“It’s just lazy thinking,” he said.

It is understood the first two party leaders, co-founder Bob Brown and Christine Milne, have both called for Hutton to be granted entry back into the party.

But Hutton has faced staunch opposition from other prominent members of the party.

In July, Greens MP for the Queensland seat of Maiwar, Michael Berkman, commented on an appeal made by Hutton.

“Unfortunately, Drew’s commitment [for] the Greens and our work on social and environmental justice seems to have been overshadowed by his obsession with trans policy,” he said.

Hutton and the Greens were contacted for comment.