Alumni profile

Greg Barber MLC is the former Leader of the Victorian Greens. He was Australia's first Green mayor when he was elected to the position in the City of Yarra in 2003.

He holds a Bachelor of Science from La Trobe, and is a member of the Class of 1990.

Prior to the Australian Greens being founded in 1992, Greg was forming his green environmental views at La Trobe University.

"It seems like the blink of an eye, but it’s actually been my whole adult life that I’ve been pursuing the ideas that first came to me when I was a La Trobe University student," he said.

“I lived in Glenn College, just a short walk... to the wildlife reserve that meant so much to me.

"I eventually got a part-time job there and I still go back there time and time again to that place, which was the beginning of my environmental awakening.

Greg says that 1990 - his graduation year - was a monumental year for global awareness of environmental problems. It was at that time that he decided his career path.

"We were studying plants and animals while bulldozes were literally coming over the horizon," he said.

"So at that point, my course was pretty set – I was going off into environmental politics and when the Greens party developed and grew, I became part of that."

Science

Last updated: 9th April 2026