Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather announces his partner Joanna Horton is pregnant

Outspoken Green MP Max Chandler-Mather has revealed he will take two months off work to welcome the birth of his first child.

Mr Chandler-Mather announced he and his partner, Joanna Horton, were expecting in a post on Twitter on Saturday.

“Some exciting personal news! My partner Joanna and I are expecting our first child (a little boy!) in early November,” he wrote.

“This means I will be taking paternity leave from November until the end of January.

“In the meantime, I have been reflecting on the deep injustice of Aus when it comes to childcare and paid parental leave.”

Mr Chandler-Mather rose to prominence in Parliament earlier this year for challenging Prime Minister Anthony Albanese over Labour’s landmark housing reform policy.

Mr Chandler-Mather and his party revealed earlier this month that they had withdrawn an extra $3 billion from the government for housing reform policy.

“Sit up and pay attention,” Mr Chandler-Mather told Parliament.

“When we stay at the negotiating table, we get results… (it’s) proof that the Greens, in the balance of power, can push Labor to take meaningful action.”

“If we congratulate Labor for offering crumbs, that’s all we’ll get.”

Until 2013, Mr Chandler-Mather sang a very different tune – given that he was a Labor activist himself.

He was a member of the Labor left during his time at the University of Queensland. Both of his parents were also members and reportedly encouraged him to join.

He worked for the United Voice union before becoming a union organizer for the National Tertiary Education Union after graduating.

Mr Chandler-Mather left the party in 2013.

In 2022, he spoke out about the decision, saying he could not remain in a party willing to maintain offshore detention centers on Nauru under the leadership of Kevin Rudd.

“I left the ALP in 2013 for the same reason many people stopped voting for them. They have abandoned their principles, are unwilling to fix the rigged system and have no vision of a better life for all Australians,” he said in promotional material for the Greens.

Mr Chandler-Mather attracted attention in Parliament this year for challenging Prime Minister Anthony Albanese over Labor’s housing policy (pictured, Mr Albanese looking at Mr Chandler-Mather, bottom centre)

With support from the Greens, Labor finally secured the votes to pass its Housing Australia Future Fund – the landmark housing policy the ALP implemented at the last election.

The policy aims to build 30,000 social and affordable housing units over five years, including 4,000 homes for women and children victims of domestic violence.

The main concern of the Greens and independents was that the bill does not go far enough to ease pressures in the booming property market.

To gain support from the Greens, the government committed an additional $3 billion in immediate spending to boost social and public housing.

The Greens, led by Mr. Chandler-Mather – himself a tenant – are still calling for a nationwide rent freeze, a measure which, according to economists, could prove problematic in the long term.

The federal government does not have jurisdiction to regulate rental prices – such policy is a matter for each state and territory. A referendum held in 1948 sought to give this power to the Commonwealth, but it was overwhelmingly rejected.

Mr Albanese and Labor accused Mr Chandler-Mather of stoking outrage over housing for his own political ambitions.

The Prime Minister said: “Vulnerable people should not be the collateral damage of your manufactured political conflict. »

On the last sitting day before the June winter break, following a particularly tense discussion about HAFF, Mr Albanese allegedly told Mr Chandler-Mather “you’re a joke, mate” while he was leaving the hemicycle.

On Saturday, Mr Chandler-Mather used his pregnancy announcement to challenge Australia’s system of “unfair childcare and paid parental leave”.

“When it comes to paid parental leave, countries like Sweden offer 16 months of paid leave that both parents can take – paid almost at full salary,” he said.

“Meanwhile, Australia won’t even get 6 months until 2026 and for many that means a big pay cut. That’s before you get to daycare.

“Truly universal, free childcare, where there is a quality public provider at scale and an expansion of community childcare, seems entirely possible in a wealthy country like Australia.

“We should be more than capable of offering 16 months of paid leave that both parents can use!”

Mr Chandler-Mather (above) used his pregnancy announcement to brand Australia’s parental leave and childcare systems “unfair”.