Greens leader David Shoebridge’s brother Michael Shoebridge reveals difference over Ukraine

The new Greens leader David Shoebridge’s biggest opponent in public life could end up being his older brother who wants Australia to have closer defence ties with Ukraine.

Michael Shoebridge, a former Commonwealth intelligence analyst, has called for Australia to have close military ties with Ukraine for strategic reasons, speaking out after Senator Shoebridge declared he opposed any Australian military aid to Ukraine unless the United Nations Security Council condemned Russia’s invasion.

“We should look at other partners as well and unfortunately, we’ve missed the boat with Ukraine because they now have lots of other partners who’ve seen the value,” Michael Shoebridge told The Nightly.

“The equation has been flipping with Ukraine for some time where instead of them just being someone that needed help, they’re now someone who’s got incredible capability who can help others.

“They still need help but they’re also a source of advantage in the defence realm.”

Vladimir Putin’s Russia is a permanent member of the UN Security Council with veto rights, meaning it would never condemn the 2022 invasion.

On paper, Michael Shoebridge couldn’t be more different from his politically hard-left brother as a former deputy director with both the Australian Signals Directorate and the Defence Intelligence Organisation.

Unlike the Greens, he wants Australia’s defence spending to be a lot higher than just 2 per cent of GDP.

“I don’t think we’re spending enough on defence but I think we’re spending it on the wrong things,” Michael Shoebridge said.

While the Greens are big on eliminating carbon emissions by 2030, Michael Shoebridge has serious concerns about the soaring popularity of Chinese-made electric cars that could potentially be providing intelligence to Chinese Communist Party.

“The big risk is those digital systems are tethered back to the Chinese companies that make them and keep their software updated,” he said.

“So, the Chinese Government doesn’t need to hack into Australian electric vehicles from China driving around on our roads, because the door to those digital systems is open.”

But when it comes to the AUKUS submarine deal with the US and the UK, the Shoebridge brothers are surprisingly on a unity ticket.

“When you’re making a mistake, the best thing is to stop rather than make more of it and there’s a massive opportunity cost for our security by pursuing AUKUS because of the number of talented humans and the amount of taxpayer dollars that are getting devoted to it,” he said.

Michael Shoebridge is also sceptical of the US alliance because of US President Donald Trump and his MAGA base Republican Party.

“We’ve really just got to smell the coffee about America and America now is not the same America that we’ve had a deep, close useful alliance with for decades — America is now, obviously, politically unreliable as a partner even for close allies,” he said.

While they agree on the US, the Shoebridge brothers are far from the only siblings in public life with some key ideologically opposite views.

“I never provide commentary on my brother — if people want to know what David’s views are, then they should talk to David,” Michael Shoebridge said.

“We have always rowed our own boat in life and to be part of any kind of comparative commentary is just not something I want to do.”

Former Liberal prime minister John Howard’s older brother Bob Howard was a left-leaning associate professor in politics at the University of Sydney who became a Labor voter after the Vietnam War.

The Howard government’s treasurer Peter Costello’s older brother Tim Costello is an anti-gambling advocate who once considered running as a Senate candidate with the centre-left Australian Democrats during the 1990s but passed up on the opportunity to avoid a family rift.

Brothers and sisters can also disagree with each other and actually both go into politics.

Former Victorian Labor education minister Mary Delahunty, who previously had a career as an ABC newsreader, is the sister of Hugh Delahuntry, a former AFL Essendon goal scorer, who was elected to State Parliament as a Nationals MP during the same era and sat on opposite sides of the chamber during the early to mid-2000s.

Siblings within the same political party can also have sharp disagreements.

Former Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott, a monarchist, campaigned against gay marriage during the 2017 postal vote survey as a devout Catholic.

His younger sister Christine Forster, a resources industry journalist and former City of Sydney councillor, voted for a republic in 1999 and campaigned in favour of same-sex marriage as a woman in a lesbian relationship who wanted the right to marry her partner Virgina Edwards.

Unlike the other siblings of high-profile political leaders and cabinet ministers, Michael Shoebridge is reluctant to declare how he votes.

“That’s what I mean by ‘I’m non-aligned’ — that is a private thing,” he said.

“I’m certainly not a Liberal Party voter or a Labor Party voter and I never have been.”