The Greens are in danger of losing both of their Queensland seats in what is shaping up to be a disastrous state election for the minority party.
Two Greens seats in Brisbane could go to Labor and the LNP respectively as counting resumed on Sunday after Saturday night’s election, which could spell trouble for three federal seats held by the party in overlapping urban electorates.
At the close of the count, Labor was in a good position to win back the South Brisbane seat from Greens MP Amy MacMahon, while the LNP, which will form the new state government, was hot on Michael Berkman’s heels. in Maiwar.
Ms MacMahon, who wrested South Brisbane from former ALP deputy premier Jackie Trad in 2020, was well behind Labor’s Barbara O’Shea 57 to 41 on a two-party preference basis at 63 per cent. of the votes counted.
The decisive factor appeared to have been that the LNP did not prefer its votes to the Greens, as it did in 2020, but instead placed them under the leadership of the Labor Party and put Ms O’Shea at the helm despite the Ms. MacMahon narrowly won the primary vote.
In Maiwar, Berkman had built a 51-48 lead over the LNP’s Natasha Winters, with more than 72 per cent of the vote counted.
The close race has largely erased the healthy 6.3 per cent margin with which Berkman previously held the seat and the Greens MP did not hesitate to blame Labor for attacking his party.
“The other big takeaway I have is a Labor government more interested in fighting to keep the Greens out than fighting the LNP to retain the government,” he told Sky News.
Queensland Greens MP Michael Berkman is in danger of losing his Brisbane seat of Maiwar to the LNP.
The close race has largely erased Berkman’s healthy 6.3 per cent margin previously and the Greens MP did not hesitate to blame Labor for attacking his party.
“If the Labor Party and the LNP want to work together to fight us, here is the entire political establishment against us.”
The policies Berkman accused Labor leader Steven Miles of stealing from the Greens included free school lunches, much cheaper public transport with the introduction of 50 cent bus fares, free GP clinics and higher taxes for mining companies .
However, Queensland Labor MP Grace Grace said The Australian The Greens had “thrown everything” at inner-Brisbane seats, including their own, and “it hasn’t materialized for them”.
“My feeling was that they were going backwards and I think that’s what we’re seeing in the results,” he said.
‘The Greens promise the world and they don’t keep it. “People have seen the Greens get elected to federal and state seats and then fail to deliver.”
Despite the Greens risking no representation in the next Queensland parliament and falling well short of their expected potential haul of four seats, let alone their stated target of six, Berkman emphasized the positives.
Two Greens seats in Brisbane could go to Labor and the LNP respectively as counting resumed on Sunday after Saturday night’s election, which could spell trouble for three federal seats held by the party in overlapping urban electorates (pictured Greens leader Adam Bandt and MP Max Chandler -Mother)
Queensland voters seen at a polling booth at Kallangur State School in Brisbane on Saturday
“We’re on track to see at least our highest statewide vote ever,” he said.
‘It can be deduced from this that the party continues to grow.
He did not accept that Saturday’s meager return boded poorly for the Greens’ prospects at federal level in Queensland.
“If you look at seats like Greenslopes, which is within Griffith and Miller, in the new target seat of Moreton, we saw really big swings towards the Greens in those areas,” he said.
‘I don’t think it’s as simple as suggesting we’re in trouble at the federal level for anything we’ve seen today.
“What we have seen is that the Labor Party has been able to make up a lot of ground by stealing our policies.”
The Greens have not given up hope of retaining southern Brisbane, but, paradoxically, that change depends on the LNP overtaking Labor.
If that happens, then Labor preferences will likely flow strongly to the Greens, giving them an almost miraculous victory.
