Greens’ surge changes the nature of Brisbane’s council politics

While the dust from the Brisbane City Council election will settle on a re-elected LNP administration, the century-old two-party system in City Hall has been firmly turned on its head.

Returning to the halls of power on Sunday for another four-year term, Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said the results for Labor and the Greens showed the political dynamics in Brisbane were changing.

Deputy Mayor Krista Adams and Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner celebrate their re-election on Sunday.Credit: Cameron Atfield

“It’s quite clear that our support held up very strongly right across the city, but the Labor Party lost a lot of votes to the Greens, and there was a big swing away from Labor to the Greens,” he said.

“But in terms of our supporters, they backed us, and we appreciate that support.”

The election results led the Greens to declare Labor’s domination of progressive politics in Brisbane over, after almost a quarter of the city’s voters gave the party their first preference in Saturday’s poll.

As of Sunday afternoon, with about 65 per cent of votes counted, the Greens’ primary vote across all wards was 22.9 per cent, behind Labor (27.3 per cent) and the LNP (46.8 per cent).

The Greens’ primary vote outperformed Labor in 10 wards – Central, Coorparoo, Enoggera, Hamilton, Paddington, Pullenvale, Tennyson, The Gabba, The Gap and Walter Taylor – making up 38.5 per cent of Brisbane City Council electorates.

While the left-of-centre Greens and Labor vied for the progressive vote, the LNP had no conservative competition in Brisbane, where parties such as One Nation did not run candidates.

Greens lord mayoral candidate Jonathan Sriranganathan, who indicated he would have “more to say” about his political future after a break at the beach, said the election was transformative.

“I would always prefer to see a bigger swing to the Greens, and it would be nice to take even more votes off the major parties,” he said.

“But considering where we were just a few years ago, and how far the Greens have come, it’s hard to see this as anything other than a significant victory.”

Jonathan Sriranganathan says it’s clear the major parties’ vote is in structural decline.Credit: Cameron Atfield

The Greens’ Trina Massey, having retained The Gabba ward, said her party was “on track to supersede Labor in Brisbane”.

“We’re on the brink of breaking the two-party system here in Brisbane, and we know now that the Greens are a force to be reckoned with,” she said.

The Greens’ Paddington candidate, Seal Chong Wah.Credit: Cameron Atfield

The party’s Paddington candidate, Seal Chong Wah, introduced herself as the ward’s new councillor on Saturday morning, having claimed the seat from the LNP.

“I’m so excited to be the representative of Paddington ward,” she said. “Finally, our community has a representative who works for them and not big developers. Renters, I have your back.”

However, as the count tightened later in the day, Schrinner said he was not giving up on the ward, which was held by appointed LNP councillor Clare Jenkinson.

“I wouldn’t call that yet,” he said.

“This is a seat that’s always going to be close. Paddington had a margin at the last election of 311 votes, so it was always going to be close, and I think it’s still close now.”

Labor looked likely to lose Wynnum Manly to the LNP, but that could be offset by a probable win in Calamvale, where Emily Kim was poised to defeat long-term incumbent Angela Owen.

Labor’s Vicki Ryan also had a strong showing in Northgate, which could yet prove enough to unseat the LNP’s Adam Allan.

Along with Paddington, the Greens remained hopeful of claiming Walter Taylor, a ward the LNP was just as confident of retaining.

Sriranganathan, who often railed against the “major” parties, was circumspect when it was pointed out that the Greens were becoming something of a major party themselves.

“We don’t take donations from big corporations, and we listen to people – not in a tokenistic way, but in a way that gives them meaningful control over the future of their city,” he said.

“So even as we grow, if we can maintain that commitment to grassroots participatory democracy, we’re going to be able to ensure that we don’t get corrupted in the way that Labor and the Liberals have been.”

Get the inside word on the news, sport, food, people and places Brisbane is talking about. Sign up for our City Talk newsletter here.