NSW Greens figures have paid tribute to the "singularly courageous" retiring Australian Greens leader Bob Brown.
Greens MP David Shoebridge said Senator Brown had been a "strong and courageous voice" for the Greens at all levels.
"He was one of the few people who would consistently speak truth to power," Mr Shoebridge told AAP on Friday.
The NSW Greens said in a joint statement: "From saving the Franklin River, to standing up for human rights, to bringing the needs of the natural world right to the heart of Canberra, Bob's public career has been of immense value to Australia."
The statement also congratulated new leader Christine Milne.
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Adam Bandt will be instead the new Deputy Leader of the Greens.
Mr Shoebridge said Greens politicians at the state level were eager to work together with Senator Milne to help grow the party as a political force.
He welcomed her input on key NSW issues, in particular transport and "finally, finally bedding down the location of a second Sydney airport".
Senator Milne, a key negotiator in establishing the federal government's carbon pricing plan, was the right leader for the party at a time when coalition-led state governments were mounting an attack against the tax, he said.
"This is the states tilting at windmills. They do not have the power to wind this legislation back," he said.
Mr Shoebridge conceded that losing the openly gay Senator Brown from politics was "a loss" for advocacy on same-sex policies at the federal level, but that the Greens party would "continue to push for same-sex equality everywhere".
