When environmental issues such as the carbon tax and coal-seam gas mining have been making headlines, the 34-year-old lawyer has deliberately laid low.

Conscious her life is about to be taken over by the demands of politics, Ms Waters opted instead to spend time with her journalist partner, Brendan O'Malley, and their two-year-old daughter, Lana, recharging her batteries before she takes her seat in the Senate next month.

''I was beating myself up about not being Wonder Woman,'' she said. ''But in three weeks' time I'm going to be super-busy and I've got six years to do a lot of good work.''

Ms Waters is part of the Greens team that will hold the Senate's balance of power from July 1. She has been earmarked as a high-profile Green like her better-known colleagues, radical ideologue Lee Rhiannon and bold activist Sarah Hanson-Young.

Former Democrats leader Andrew Bartlett says Ms Waters has the potential to be ''a bit of a star'' in federal politics.

A Bob Brown-style conservationist Green, Ms Waters nominates the Great Barrier Reef as her political priority. ''If I can do anything to protect the Reef from climate change, I will feel I can sleep easy at night. It's the one thing I want to achieve above all else.''

Despite her new high-profile role, Ms Waters is determined to keep weekends for her family as much as possible.

''It's important to do that - I demand a world where you can do that,'' she said. ''I'm confident we can make it work in our own way.'' But she'll miss cooking, her ''peace at the end of the day''.

A lawyer with the Environmental Defenders Office for eight years, Ms Waters said her frustration with the limits of environmental protection laws prompted her to go into politics.

''I'll certainly miss practising law, but I'm looking forward to making laws.''

Seasoned political players predict even bigger things.

"She has natural warmth and charm … it's genuine as well,'' said Mr Bartlett, who ran against Ms Waters in 2007. ''She's a bit of a natural with people, beliefs and issues.''

A former Labor campaign director agrees. ''She's probably the brightest spark the Queensland Greens have produced for some time,'' he said. ''She's fresh, she's attractive, she can deliver quite a good message.''

Ms Waters admits to having ''a crisis of confidence on a daily basis'' about properly representing the interests of an entire state.

''I think I can do the job,'' she said. ''My heart's in the right place.''

As the only Queensland Green elected at any level of government, Ms Waters will have to broaden the party's base in the conservative state if she is to win a second Senate term.

Ms Waters is seen as a canny operator but not a natural political animal, which she freely admits.

''Nobody likes politicians do they?'' she said. ''People like other real people. I hope to always remain down to earth.''

Some wonder if she will be swallowed up by her more militant colleagues in Canberra.

''It could be like Bambi going down to the bear pit,'' the Labor campaign director said.

''It could be difficult to get traction inside that melting pot of personalities.''