Australian Greens leader Larissa Waters has announced she is stepping down because her kidney disease has worsened and her doctors say recovery requires a slower pace. She will take medical leave but remain a Queensland senator, saying she hopes to return to that role and support the party’s next leader.

Waters, 49, has led the Greens for just over a year, after succeeding Adam Bandt, and has been a senator since 2011, apart from a 14-month resignation over her Canadian citizenship. David Shoebridge is reported to be the likely leadership contender. The party credited Waters with work on environmental law reform and said it had opposed proposed cuts to the National Disability Insurance Scheme.