Greens' dream of more seats has turned into a nightmare

The Age

03-05-2025

However, the party was likely to retain the six Senate seats it was contesting – one in each state – keeping its status as a potential blocking stake in the Senate.
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As has been the pattern in past elections, the party had set its expectations sky-high – seeking to regain its four existing seats and add five more – two in Melbourne, one in regional NSW and one each in South Australia and Western Australia.
Despite the numbers, in an upbeat speech to a room full of cheering supporters in Melbourne last night, Bandt extolled the slight increase in the Greens vote and said: 'One thing is clear, though: we have kept Dutton out.'
To boos he added: 'We may see the situation where some Labor members are elected on Liberal preferences.'
In Brisbane, where Chandler-Mather has lost Griffith and Stephen Bates has lost Brisbane, only one of the three Queensland seats, Ryan, is still too close to call.
At the election-night function in the northern state, however, you would not guess the trouble they faced. At 10pm, music was blasting and hundreds braved sporadic rain on a partially outdoor dance floor.
The revelation that Peter Dutton lost his own seat about 25 kilometres to the north injected a fresh boost into the crowd, with delighted volunteers walking around with news headlines on their phones for the crowd.
Queensland senators Larissa Waters and Penny Allman-Payne were earlier brought in to rally the troops. 'The results are really early, and as you can see, it's gonna be really tight tonight, so we're all gonna be watching with bated breath,' Allman-Payne told the still-energetic crowd.
Liberal Party preferences, which were directed to Labor above the Greens, had done the damage. That meant that, even in electorates in which the Greens lead, and with small Liberal votes, the two-party preferred vote will likely go to Labor in coming days when all votes are counted.
At the Greens' Melbourne party in the suburb of Docklands, the party was also pumping, despite the result. After Bandt's speech at 9.10pm – shortly before Peter Dutton's concession speech – he asked the DJ to start and the party moved to the dance floor.
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Speaking later, Bandt said it was too close to call, across the country, to make confident predictions.
He blamed the Greens' poor result on the Liberal-Labor parties' preference deals, which he said were designed to lock the Greens out.
'As we've been sitting there looking at the numbers … we're on track to not only hold the balance of power in the Senate ... but to have between one and four seats in the lower house as well.'
Wills candidate Ratnam extolled the almost 10 per cent swing towards the party in the progressive electorate. Ratnam and Bandt both asked their hardcore supporters to be available in coming weeks to scrutinise the count of crucial pre-poll and postal votes, which could take weeks.
Before losing his seat, Chandler-Mather was the party's rising star. He spent his first term in the House of Representatives being outspoken and controversial. He spoke favourably of the CFMEU at a rally after corruption allegations were levelled against the union. And, with his calls to abolish negative gearing, double capital gains tax and freeze rents, he managed to get under Anthony Albanese's skin.
Campaigning in Griffith during the week, the prime minister said Chandler-Mather had 'personally held up, as the Greens party housing spokesperson … investments in the Housing Australia Future Fund, held up the Help To Buy scheme, about shared equity in home ownership'.
At the national Greens party in Melbourne, one young campaign volunteer said cost of living, which translated in her mind to housing, was the overwhelming hot-button issue in the inner-northern Melbourne electorate of Wills.
A close second was the Israel-Palestine conflict.