Latest news with #Greenslide
Sydney Morning Herald
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Brisbane in focus: The state of play across the city's key electorates
After five weeks of campaigning, polls closed at 6pm. Labor, the Coalition and the Greens are all hoping they can hold on to key electorates in the Greater Brisbane area, and even pick up others. Here is the state of play in some of the most tightly contested seats. Brisbane The seat of Brisbane takes in inner-city suburbs including riverside New Farm and Newstead, the well-heeled Clayfield and Hamilton, as well as Albion, Lutwyche, Bowen Hills, Kelvin Grove, Newmarket, Enoggera, Windsor, Wilston and Wooloowin, plus the CBD and parts of Stafford and Bardon. Incumbent Green Stephen Bates took the seat from the LNP's Trevor Evans in the progressive party's historic Brisbane sweep three years ago, shocking political pundits across the country and prompting leader Adam Bandt to declare a 'Greenslide'. Bates holds the electorate with a 3.7 per cent margin, but finished in third place at the last election before preferences were counted. A well-resourced campaign from Labor's Madonna Jarrett – who also ran at the last election – set up the race as a genuine three-way rematch, and one that could be key to either major party forming government. Griffith Griffith was held by Labor for almost a quarter of a century – with former PM Kevin Rudd serving 15 years – before Max Chandler-Mather won the seat from Terri Butler in 2022. The renter- and apartment-dominated suburbs of West End, Kangaroo Point, South Brisbane and Woolloongabba fall within the boundaries, as does a mortgage-heavy belt spanning Bulimba, Norman Park, Carina, Camp Hill, Holland Park and Coorparoo. Chandler-Mather has been a firebrand for the Greens since winning the seat, and is one of its best known figures as spokesperson for housing. His Labor challenger, Renee Coffey, lives in Norman Park and most recently served as chief executive of a national youth mental health charity. Ryan Established as an electorate in 1949, Ryan was a blue seat – that is, held by the conservative Liberal Party or its Queensland successor, the LNP – for all but 11 months in 2001, until Elizabeth Watson-Brown won in 2022. The electorate covers two dozen suburbs, from urban riverside areas near the University of Queensland campus to more affluent suburbs where at least 80 per cent of residents are home owners. Former architect Watson-Brown's first preference count lagged 8.3 per cent behind then-incumbent LNP member Julian Simmonds, and her final lead was a slim 2.6 per cent. Her main challenger is Brisbane barrister Maggie Forrest, running for the LNP, while former school principal Rebecca Hack is running for Labor. 'The electorate of Ryan is actually ripe for a teal candidate, but in the absence of [one], the Greens have basically picked up the mantle,' University of Queensland political economist and Ryan local Shahar Hameiri told this masthead during the campaign. Dickson Rumours he's losing his home base have dogged Peter Dutton, the federal opposition leader, since the election was announced in late March – and have not been helped by the fact the 2022 two-candidate-preferred margin in Dickson was 1.7 per cent. Starting a half-hour drive north of Brisbane's CBD, Dickson is home to about 118,468 enrolled voters across suburbs of the City of Moreton Bay, including Albany Creek, Everton Hills, Ferny Hills, Kurwongbah, Murrumba Downs, Petrie, Strathpine and parts of Kallangur. Labor's Ali France has been creeping up on Dutton since 2019, when she contested the seat with a maiden campaign. The seat is also being contested by a handful of independent and minor party candidates, including Climate 200-backed independent Ellie Smith, whose preferences may make a difference. Moreton Moreton is considered a safe Labor seat, having been held by Labor MP Graham Perrett since 2007. It includes inner-city suburbs like Yeronga, Fairfield and Annerley and stretches south-west to Corinda and Oxley and south to Sunnybank and Kuraby, with the South-East Freeway as its eastern border. With Perrett retiring, Labor is running its former state secretary Julie-Ann Campbell, and it is the next Brisbane seat in the Greens' sights. The Greens candidate, Remah Naji, is a 35-year-old social worker and an organiser of the Justice for Palestine protest group.
The Age
03-05-2025
- Politics
- The Age
Brisbane in focus: The state of play across the city's key electorates
After five weeks of campaigning, polls closed at 6pm. Labor, the Coalition and the Greens are all hoping they can hold on to key electorates in the Greater Brisbane area, and even pick up others. Here is the state of play in some of the most tightly contested seats. Brisbane The seat of Brisbane takes in inner-city suburbs including riverside New Farm and Newstead, the well-heeled Clayfield and Hamilton, as well as Albion, Lutwyche, Bowen Hills, Kelvin Grove, Newmarket, Enoggera, Windsor, Wilston and Wooloowin, plus the CBD and parts of Stafford and Bardon. Incumbent Green Stephen Bates took the seat from the LNP's Trevor Evans in the progressive party's historic Brisbane sweep three years ago, shocking political pundits across the country and prompting leader Adam Bandt to declare a 'Greenslide'. Bates holds the electorate with a 3.7 per cent margin, but finished in third place at the last election before preferences were counted. A well-resourced campaign from Labor's Madonna Jarrett – who also ran at the last election – set up the race as a genuine three-way rematch, and one that could be key to either major party forming government. Griffith Griffith was held by Labor for almost a quarter of a century – with former PM Kevin Rudd serving 15 years – before Max Chandler-Mather won the seat from Terri Butler in 2022. The renter- and apartment-dominated suburbs of West End, Kangaroo Point, South Brisbane and Woolloongabba fall within the boundaries, as does a mortgage-heavy belt spanning Bulimba, Norman Park, Carina, Camp Hill, Holland Park and Coorparoo. Chandler-Mather has been a firebrand for the Greens since winning the seat, and is one of its best known figures as spokesperson for housing. His Labor challenger, Renee Coffey, lives in Norman Park and most recently served as chief executive of a national youth mental health charity. Ryan Established as an electorate in 1949, Ryan was a blue seat – that is, held by the conservative Liberal Party or its Queensland successor, the LNP – for all but 11 months in 2001, until Elizabeth Watson-Brown won in 2022. The electorate covers two dozen suburbs, from urban riverside areas near the University of Queensland campus to more affluent suburbs where at least 80 per cent of residents are home owners. Former architect Watson-Brown's first preference count lagged 8.3 per cent behind then-incumbent LNP member Julian Simmonds, and her final lead was a slim 2.6 per cent. Her main challenger is Brisbane barrister Maggie Forrest, running for the LNP, while former school principal Rebecca Hack is running for Labor. 'The electorate of Ryan is actually ripe for a teal candidate, but in the absence of [one], the Greens have basically picked up the mantle,' University of Queensland political economist and Ryan local Shahar Hameiri told this masthead during the campaign. Dickson Rumours he's losing his home base have dogged Peter Dutton, the federal opposition leader, since the election was announced in late March – and have not been helped by the fact the 2022 two-candidate-preferred margin in Dickson was 1.7 per cent. Starting a half-hour drive north of Brisbane's CBD, Dickson is home to about 118,468 enrolled voters across suburbs of the City of Moreton Bay, including Albany Creek, Everton Hills, Ferny Hills, Kurwongbah, Murrumba Downs, Petrie, Strathpine and parts of Kallangur. Labor's Ali France has been creeping up on Dutton since 2019, when she contested the seat with a maiden campaign. The seat is also being contested by a handful of independent and minor party candidates, including Climate 200-backed independent Ellie Smith, whose preferences may make a difference. Moreton Moreton is considered a safe Labor seat, having been held by Labor MP Graham Perrett since 2007. It includes inner-city suburbs like Yeronga, Fairfield and Annerley and stretches south-west to Corinda and Oxley and south to Sunnybank and Kuraby, with the South-East Freeway as its eastern border. With Perrett retiring, Labor is running its former state secretary Julie-Ann Campbell, and it is the next Brisbane seat in the Greens' sights. The Greens candidate, Remah Naji, is a 35-year-old social worker and an organiser of the Justice for Palestine protest group.
Sydney Morning Herald
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Ripe for a teal candidate': Inside Queensland's bluest Greens seat
Three years on from Brisbane's 'Greenslide', three seats are in the firing line as the next federal election approaches. But while the party's weakest seat, Ryan, might be leafy, locals aren't so sure it's still Green. Established as an electorate in 1949, Ryan was a blue seat – that is, held by the conservative Liberal Party or its Queensland successor, the LNP – for all but 11 months in 2001 until the Greens' Elizabeth Watson-Brown won in 2022. The electorate covers two dozen suburbs, from urban riverside areas near the University of Queensland campus to more affluent suburbs where at least 80 per cent of residents are homeowners. University of Queensland political economist Professor Shahar Hameiri not only works in Ryan, he also lives there, in the semi-rural suburb of Brookfield on Brisbane's western fringe. Corflutes supporting the Greens pepper the electorate's roadsides, but Hameiri said that didn't reflect the reality for Brookfield voters, who favoured the LNP by 61 per cent at the last election. Across the electorate, Watson-Brown's first preference count lagged 8.3 per cent behind then-incumbent LNP member Julian Simmonds, and her final lead was a slim 2.6 per cent.
The Age
25-04-2025
- Politics
- The Age
‘Ripe for a teal candidate': Inside Queensland's bluest Greens seat
Three years on from Brisbane's 'Greenslide', three seats are in the firing line as the next federal election approaches. But while the party's weakest seat, Ryan, might be leafy, locals aren't so sure it's still Green. Established as an electorate in 1949, Ryan was a blue seat – that is, held by the conservative Liberal Party or its Queensland successor, the LNP – for all but 11 months in 2001 until the Greens' Elizabeth Watson-Brown won in 2022. The electorate covers two dozen suburbs, from urban riverside areas near the University of Queensland campus to more affluent suburbs where at least 80 per cent of residents are homeowners. University of Queensland political economist Professor Shahar Hameiri not only works in Ryan, he also lives there, in the semi-rural suburb of Brookfield on Brisbane's western fringe. Corflutes supporting the Greens pepper the electorate's roadsides, but Hameiri said that didn't reflect the reality for Brookfield voters, who favoured the LNP by 61 per cent at the last election. Across the electorate, Watson-Brown's first preference count lagged 8.3 per cent behind then-incumbent LNP member Julian Simmonds, and her final lead was a slim 2.6 per cent.
The Guardian
21-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
The Greens want to be election kingmakers – but they are fighting on two fronts
A peculiar and comical sight greeted those passing by Melbourne's Luna Park on the morning of 4 April. A middle-aged man and three women, holding a novelty sized toothbrush, pretending to clean the large pearly whites that welcome visitors to the attraction on the St Kilda foreshore. The man was the Greens leader, Adam Bandt; the women his candidates in Wills and Macnamara: Samantha Ratnam and Sonya Semmens, and Victorian senator Steph Hodgins-May. The red toothbrush, which Bandt hauled into the local ABC studios earlier that morning, was a prop to promote the party's push to add dental treatment to Medicare. Stunts have been a feature of the Greens' election campaign, a deliberate tactic to capture the attention of otherwise uninterested voters and the media. Bandt has DJ'd a set alongside social media influencer Abbie Chatfield, paraded novelty cheques illustrating the sum of tax concessions to property investors and leant into countless trends on TikTok. 'Adam is down to clown,' a Greens insider said. That might be true. Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter But Bandt is dead serious about not just consolidating the party's historic 2022 federal election result, where it picked up the seats of Griffith, Brisbane and Ryan in the Queensland capital. He is determined to build on it. For months the Greens have been positioning themselves as the likely kingmaker in a potential hung parliament. It's a position Bandt has promised to use to keep out the Coalition and force Labor to deliver its wishlist of progressive policies, including dental in Medicare, winding back negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions, banning native forest logging and making childcare free for all. The Greens will almost certainly retain the balance of power in the Senate, meaning they will be a force in the 48th parliament regardless of what else occurs on 3 May. But what power it has to shape the next government will hinge on how it performs in several lower house races that insiders across party lines agree are too close to call. The success of 2022 – dubbed the 'Greenslide' – means the Greens are now fighting on two fronts. They are on the defensive in Brisbane, while targeting the seats of Richmond in the New South Wales northern rivers, Sturt in Adelaide's eastern suburbs, Perth in the heart of the Western Australian capital, as well as Wills and Macnamara in Melbourne. Should the party defend all its Brisbane seats and pick up others – most likely Wills and Macnamara – its numbers on the crossbench would prove hard to ignore if Anthony Albanese is scratching around for support to prop up a minority Labor government. The prime minister has repeatedly and emphatically ruled out a power-sharing agreement with the Greens, avoiding a repeat of the 2010 Julia Gillard-Bob Brown deal that still haunts Labor. 'The Greens, I am not negotiating with the Greens. We make it very clear,' Albanese said on Thursday as he was peppered with questions about negative gearing. Bandt has dismissed Albanese's denials as political posturing, saying he would be 'astounded' if the Labor leader refused to cooperate in a minority government. The alternative election-night scenario involves the Greens losing ground, potentially sidelining them from the type of parliament they have been awaiting for more than a decade. Max Chandler-Mather, the Greens' polarising housing spokesman, isn't one for concessions. But after the Queensland state election in October, where the Greens went backwards in seats despite lofty expectations, the 33-year-old Griffith MP had no choice. 'We're going to have to have a long honest look at our politics and strategy and make sure we're doing everything right,' he said at the time. The Queensland election was one of a series of either poor or underwhelming state, territory and council results in 2024 that suggested the Greens were in trouble or had stalled as a movement. Sign up to Afternoon Update: Election 2025 Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key election campaign stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion The pundits and the Greens' political opponents blamed Bandt's federal team, reasoning that its 'blocking' of Labor's agenda, particularly on housing, its stance on the Gaza conflict and even Chandler-Mather's attendance at a pro-CFMEU rally were turning voters off. The major parties believe the new Greens MPs are vulnerable. Labor is increasingly optimistic about snatching Stephen Bates's seat of Brisbane, while the Coalition is hopeful of winning back Ryan from Elizabeth Watson-Brown. The government desperately wants to topple Chandler-Mather to regain Kevin Rudd's old seat. Albanese held a campaign rally in Griffith on 6 April, unveiling the sort of election pledge – a household battery subsidy scheme – it hopes will sway voters weighing up whether to choose Labor or the Greens. The Greens are confident of holding Griffith while Labor strategists concede it is a tough ask, even with the best efforts of a highly regarded candidate, Renee Coffey. The Greens are also under constant assault from the rightwing group Advance, which will reportedly spend $4m during the five-week campaign alone highlighting the party's 'radical' agenda. For all noise of the past year, the Greens' national primary vote remains steady at about 13% according to Guardian Australia's poll tracker. Kos Samaras, a director at the research firm RedBridge, says he would be 'alarmed' if the Greens lost Griffith but expected tight races in Brisbane, Ryan, Wills and Macnamara. Samaras says the Greens' national vote is holding up but its supporter base has not expanded as the former Labor strategists thought it might after 2022. 'I think this is going to be a status-quo election [for the Greens],' he says. 'What I mean by that is that, yes, they are going to try and win seats like Wills and Macnamara, but that's always been the case.' The best attempts of minor parties such as the Greens to focus the national political debate on their terms so often come to nothing. But every once in a while, the major parties do it for them. Bandt believes such a moment occurred last Sunday, when Albanese and Peter Dutton used the respective Labor and Coalition campaign launches to unveil policies designed to make it easier for first-home buyers to break into the property market. As economist after economist lined up on Monday and Tuesday to warn the policies would drive up house prices, Bandt's team saw their central message to voters – 'you can't keep voting for the same two parties and expecting different results' – reinforced in real time. Sensing an opportunity, the Greens will now prioritise housing in the final fortnight of the campaign, including in advertising spending, at press conferences and during door-knocking. On Thursday, Bandt – wearing a white 'fighting for renters' T-shirt – Chandler-Mather, Bates and senator Larissa Waters stood in a Brisbane park holding a novelty cheque for the sum of $180bn, the Parliamentary Budget Office's latest estimate for the 10-year cost of negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions. 'We have pushed for renters and first-home buyers to be on the political agenda – it has happened,' Bandt said. 'The experts have panned the major parties' policies and now the door is open to some real reform in a minority parliament.' Bandt and Waters were in the Greens party room during the last hung parliament, as was Sarah Hanson-Young. The SA senator and the Green's manager of parliamentary business says the major parties are in denial about voters' appetite for a power-sharing parliament. 'The public simply does not want the major parties to have total control any more,' she says. 'There is a growing expectation that a hung parliament will force change, and voters are hungry for it. I was there back in 2010; it was a productive parliament. 'I have seen how perceptions have changed.'
