Latest news with #Greenslide
Sydney Morning Herald
30-07-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Their founder now calls them unlikeable and authoritarian. Can the Greens change their spots?
Not so long ago, Adam Bandt was a very happy man. It was the winter of 2022. The Morrison government had been defeated and Bandt, in his fifth term as the member for Melbourne, was accompanied in the lower house by three new Greens colleagues who'd won seats in inner-city Brisbane. The 'old' parties – Labor and the Coalition – were in terminal decline as far as the Greens leader was concerned. 'We created a Greenslide, and we've put down even deeper roots in Greensland,' he declared. 'Next election, I know we can grow again. I think we can win even more lower house seats.' Bandt stayed on his high for the next three years. He looked ahead to the prospect of Labor falling into minority government status in 2025 and how that would enable the Greens to have a direct role in setting national policy. He worked with his housing spokesman, Max Chandler-Mather, to block the Albanese government's housing policies, deemed to be insufficient, by joining with the Coalition in the Senate. Bandt and Chandler-Mather convinced themselves they were creating a whole new Greens-supporting political constituency of mostly young, angry renters. They overplayed their hand. The government stared them down and the Greens eventually folded late last year, waving through Labor's legislation. But the damage was done. The Greenslide was going into reverse. Most renters don't want to stay renters forever. They wanted action on building more houses; Labor's prescription might not have been ideal, but it did offer action while the Greens for too long delivered inaction and boasted about it. It was a shocking failure of strategy. Much of the talk in politics, encouraged by Bandt publicly, was about a possible Labor-Greens minority government. At the May 3 election, voters with the power to make a definitive difference acted assertively. Two of the 'Greenslide' seats went to the ALP, and Bandt himself was turfed out of Melbourne, which Labor's Sarah Witty won with a swing of more than 8 per cent. There is now just one Greens MP in the lower house, Elizabeth Watson-Brown. A couple of points need to be made. One is that although the Greens lost three of their four seats, the party's lower house vote was still 12 per cent, just as it was in 2022. The other is that while the party was hurt in the lower house, it is by no means irrelevant. One of the biggest running stories about the Albanese government's second term is that it will have to rely on the Greens in the Senate to get its legislation passed. The Greens have 10 senators and the balance of power. They are the legislative gatekeepers. But they have been on a long march to try to fulfil the wish of one of their founders, Bob Brown, to replace the Labor Party as the pre-eminent 'progressive' party. That venture is not going well and took a bad hit at this election. In fact, the 2025 outcome could well come to be seen as a watershed for the Greens. It suggested very strongly that while the public is OK with the Greens having a substantial presence and role in the upper house, it's much less interested in entrusting them with a direct role in government. Loading Just to put the Greens' new single-seat status in context, the party's 12.2 per cent share of the national primary vote is certainly substantial. But the other parties holding one seat are Centre Alliance, with 0.2 per cent of the vote, and Katter's Australian Party, with 0.3 per cent. The Greens' lower house vote share has hovered around 12 per cent for six consecutive elections. And on May 3, many of its older, cashed-up supporters in gentrified suburbs, put off by the performative politics of Bandt and Chandler-Mather as well as its aggressive stance on the Israel-Gaza conflict, flipped to the Labor Party. In my local polling place, a hitherto heavily Green part of the seat of Wills, there was a 7 per cent swing away from the Greens, which, along with similar vote shifts elsewhere, was enough to keep Wills in Labor's hands. Bandt's successor as leader, Larissa Waters, has a massive job ahead of her in navigating the responsibility of holding the balance of power in the Senate while also recalibrating the tone and behaviour of the party. There is a key question about the Greens' mission. The party grew out of the environmental movement, a global phenomenon, and is still struggling with broadening itself. The split over transgender rights and restrictions on discussing the issue within the party, which has led to the expulsion of a co-founder, Drew Hutton, is an example of this. Hutton has described the modern Greens as aggressive, weird, unlikeable, authoritarian and doctrinaire.
The Age
30-07-2025
- Politics
- The Age
Their founder now calls them unlikeable and authoritarian. Can the Greens change their spots?
Not so long ago, Adam Bandt was a very happy man. It was the winter of 2022. The Morrison government had been defeated and Bandt, in his fifth term as the member for Melbourne, was accompanied in the lower house by three new Greens colleagues who'd won seats in inner-city Brisbane. The 'old' parties – Labor and the Coalition – were in terminal decline as far as the Greens leader was concerned. 'We created a Greenslide, and we've put down even deeper roots in Greensland,' he declared. 'Next election, I know we can grow again. I think we can win even more lower house seats.' Bandt stayed on his high for the next three years. He looked ahead to the prospect of Labor falling into minority government status in 2025 and how that would enable the Greens to have a direct role in setting national policy. He worked with his housing spokesman, Max Chandler-Mather, to block the Albanese government's housing policies, deemed to be insufficient, by joining with the Coalition in the Senate. Bandt and Chandler-Mather convinced themselves they were creating a whole new Greens-supporting political constituency of mostly young, angry renters. They overplayed their hand. The government stared them down and the Greens eventually folded late last year, waving through Labor's legislation. But the damage was done. The Greenslide was going into reverse. Most renters don't want to stay renters forever. They wanted action on building more houses; Labor's prescription might not have been ideal, but it did offer action while the Greens for too long delivered inaction and boasted about it. It was a shocking failure of strategy. Much of the talk in politics, encouraged by Bandt publicly, was about a possible Labor-Greens minority government. At the May 3 election, voters with the power to make a definitive difference acted assertively. Two of the 'Greenslide' seats went to the ALP, and Bandt himself was turfed out of Melbourne, which Labor's Sarah Witty won with a swing of more than 8 per cent. There is now just one Greens MP in the lower house, Elizabeth Watson-Brown. A couple of points need to be made. One is that although the Greens lost three of their four seats, the party's lower house vote was still 12 per cent, just as it was in 2022. The other is that while the party was hurt in the lower house, it is by no means irrelevant. One of the biggest running stories about the Albanese government's second term is that it will have to rely on the Greens in the Senate to get its legislation passed. The Greens have 10 senators and the balance of power. They are the legislative gatekeepers. But they have been on a long march to try to fulfil the wish of one of their founders, Bob Brown, to replace the Labor Party as the pre-eminent 'progressive' party. That venture is not going well and took a bad hit at this election. In fact, the 2025 outcome could well come to be seen as a watershed for the Greens. It suggested very strongly that while the public is OK with the Greens having a substantial presence and role in the upper house, it's much less interested in entrusting them with a direct role in government. Loading Just to put the Greens' new single-seat status in context, the party's 12.2 per cent share of the national primary vote is certainly substantial. But the other parties holding one seat are Centre Alliance, with 0.2 per cent of the vote, and Katter's Australian Party, with 0.3 per cent. The Greens' lower house vote share has hovered around 12 per cent for six consecutive elections. And on May 3, many of its older, cashed-up supporters in gentrified suburbs, put off by the performative politics of Bandt and Chandler-Mather as well as its aggressive stance on the Israel-Gaza conflict, flipped to the Labor Party. In my local polling place, a hitherto heavily Green part of the seat of Wills, there was a 7 per cent swing away from the Greens, which, along with similar vote shifts elsewhere, was enough to keep Wills in Labor's hands. Bandt's successor as leader, Larissa Waters, has a massive job ahead of her in navigating the responsibility of holding the balance of power in the Senate while also recalibrating the tone and behaviour of the party. There is a key question about the Greens' mission. The party grew out of the environmental movement, a global phenomenon, and is still struggling with broadening itself. The split over transgender rights and restrictions on discussing the issue within the party, which has led to the expulsion of a co-founder, Drew Hutton, is an example of this. Hutton has described the modern Greens as aggressive, weird, unlikeable, authoritarian and doctrinaire.
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.
