PM Anthony Albanese says Mat Chandler-Mather 'needs a mirror' after claiming Labor fosters toxic culture in Question Time
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has blasted outgoing Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather, who had repeatedly criticised Labor and the culture in Parliament House.
Mr Chandler-Mather, the minor party's former housing spokesperson, lost his inner-city Brisbane seat of Griffith to Labor's Renee Coffey at the federal election on Saturday.
The Greens' woes then worsened on Wednesday afternoon, after Sky News projected party leader Adam Bandt would lose his seat of Melbourne - which is set to turn red again after 15 years.
Labor also picked up the Greens electorate of Brisbane and clinched a narrow victory in the Melbourne seat of Wills, despite the minor party launching a considerable ground campaign to flip the marginal electorate.
In a sit-down interview with ABC's 7:30, Mr Albanese was asked about Mr Chandler-Mather, who claimed this week that parliament and Question Time was a "sick place" and that he was "happy" to not spend time in the House of Representatives anymore.
The outgoing Greens MP described the workplace as "bloody awful" and "miserable", recalling that "every time" he stood up to speak he would be "screamed and yelled at".
Mr Albanese said Mr Chandler-Mather should reflect and "have a good look at the way he asks questions" in parliament.
"Maybe what he needs is a mirror and a reflection on why he's no longer in parliament… it's a bit rich for him, of all people, who has been rejected by his own electorate after just one term," the Prime Minister told ABC host Sarah Ferguson.
"This is a guy who stood before signs at a CFMEU rally in Brisbane describing me as a Nazi. I think he should have a look at the way he conducted himself in Question Time, including the questions that he asked of me, which I found pretty offensive."
The Prime Minister also took a swipe at Greens leader Adam Bandt, claiming his former seat of Melbourne was "very much under a cloud", and stated it was "very difficult to see a pathway in which he will resume his seat in Parliament".
The Greens have lost three of their four seats so far this election, although appear on track to retain the Brisbane seat of Ryan.
Labor's Rebecca Hack is less than 600 votes behind Greens' Elizabeth Watson-Brown with just under 20 per cent of ballots still to be counted.
"What I hope comes out of the new Senate is a bit of a recognition that one of the reasons why the Greens political party have had a bad outcome in the election is the view that they simply combined with the Coalition in what I termed the no-alition, to provide blockages" Mr Albanese said on Wednesday night.
Mr Albanese was also questioned about the Environmental Protection Agency, which he promised to establish if he won a second term in government.
"We want to make sure that a federal EPA can support industry and jobs and provide certainty, but also produce sustainable outcomes. You can protect the environment whilst you are also standing up for jobs and certainty for the resources sector," he said.
However, the Prime Minister refused to comment on Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek's future in cabinet and also did not confirm if she would be moved to another portfolio.
Ms Plibersek failed to get Labor's promised federal EPA passed despite negotiating a deal with the Greens and crossbench in the Senate, with Mr Albanese making a captain's call and shelving the plan after discussions with Western Australia Premier Roger Cook.
Mr Albanese said he would finalise his revised cabinet over the weekend, following a meeting of the brimming Labor caucus on Friday.
'We have a Caucus meeting on Friday. I respect our internal processes and I'm not about to pre-empt them. That'll take over the weekend and into next week,' he told 7:30.
'I'm going to have a swearing-in of Ministers next Tuesday morning, is the tentative proposal that I have put forward to her Excellency the Governor-General, so that we will have plenty of time to work through those issues.'
Stephen Jones' assistant treasurer role and Bill Shorten's NDIS portfolio are both up for grabs as the various Labor factions jostle over the imminent cabinet reshuffle.
'Well, the leader always gets to allocate portfolios under our system, but I'm someone who is consultative,' Mr Albanese said.
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