Former Greens leader Bob Brown has called on the party's NSW Senator Lee Rhiannon to resign, citing the Greens' poor performance in her state and emphasising a need for "renewal".
A widely respected co-founder of the party, Mr Brown told the ABC's 7.30 program that the Greens had been "held back by the old guard" - a view fiercely contested by Senator Rhiannon.
"Lee has given long service to the Greens but it's time for renewal," Mr Brown said. "The incumbents in NSW - certainly that's Lee in the Senate - have given great service, but are not hitting a chord with voters at the moment and we need to move on."
Asked directly whether he thought Senator Rhiannon should stand down, he said: "That would be my advice. I think we should have two senators in NSW, not one, and so I think when the change comes we'll see more senators in NSW, not just a replacement."
The party's godfather said Greens voters, and those who were inclined to vote Green but currently did not, "deserved better" from candidates in the country's most populous state.
He pointed out that in Melbourne, incumbent Greens MP Adam Bandt received 43.75 per cent of the primary vote - double that achieved by challenger Jim Casey in the Anthony Albanese's Sydney seat of Grayndler.
"The potential for giving NSW voters a really great progressive Green vote is being missed," Mr Brown said. "The result in NSW has been a long-term disappointment to me ... it lags right behind."
He noted the party had done "very well" nationally, lifting its primary vote by 1.58 per cent to 10.23 per cent, but that "did not convert into more seats". In the Senate, the Greens lost a seat in South Australia and may lose one in Western Australia.
Senator Rhiannon, also interviewed on 7.30, refused to heed the call to step down, saying she had been democratically elected by the people of NSW. "I've got a job to do and I'll continue to do that," she said.
She accused Mr Brown of unnecessarily singling out NSW for criticism, arguing his attack did not "have logic", although she recognised the need to improve the party's results in that state.
Senator Rhiannon denied she was involved in factional power-plays to preselect a replacement for the late John Kaye in the NSW Parliament, though she conceded internal factional fighting was taking place.
She also revealed Mr Brown had privately discouraged her from seeking preselection in NSW in 2007 and federally in 2010.
"He's now ramping it up and I don't think that that's good," she said. "It's certainly confusing for members."
Mr Brown said the country was entering "a new period of configuring Australia's future" and the Greens would be better served by younger, fresher candidates.
"It has been held back by the old guard ... and it's time they got out and made room for new, younger people more in tune with the Australian public in 2016," he told 7.30.
