Brisbane City Council election: Greens-Labor alliance looking likely

A Greens wave could rock next year’s Brisbane City Council election, with insiders saying as many as 16 wards will be in play across the city.

A Greens wave could rock next year’s Brisbane City Council election, with insiders saying as many as 16 wards will be in play across the city.

With Labor currently holding just five of 26 wards and looking incapable of holding a majority alone, a Greens and Labor alliance has also emerged as a likely possibility.

With two Labor councillors set to retire, some political experts have predicted the party’s numbers could fall even further, opening the door for the Greens to become the official opposition even if the LNP retains the overall numbers.

High-profile former councillor and self-declared anarchist Jonathan Sriranganathan was announced as the party’s mayoral candidate this week, with Mr Sriranganathan saying on day one he wants to see house prices and rents fall.

Mr Sriranganathan previously shared he would like to see "a coalition of Greens, independent and Labor councillors running Brisbane City Council”.

But there have been warnings from the other side of politics that such a coalition could have a detrimental impact on the city, in particular plans for additional homes amid the ongoing housing crisis.

Greens Brisbane Mayor candidate Jonathan Sriranganathan. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/Courier Mail

A senior Greens source told The Sunday Mail that while the party believes it has a strong chance of winning up to 10 wards, there were 16 where its primary vote looks to be at or above 17 per cent based on last year’s federal result.

“We took the Gabba ward from 17 per cent in 2012 to a win in 2016,” he said. “That’s the model for a path to victory.

“We think there’s a political realignment going on, and we saw that in last year’s federal election. People are ditching the two major parties and voting for the Greens.”

At the last council election the Greens finished second in five wards currently held by the LNP – Coorparoo, Paddington, Walter Taylor, Pullenvale and Central.

But insiders say the Greens vote could stretch further, potentially scooping wards such as Morningside, Holland Park, The Gap and Enoggera, where the Greens pulled strong support in last year’s federal poll.

The 2022 “Greenslide” resulted in the party achieving its best ever result, with three Brisbane electorates turning – Brisbane, Ryan and Griffith.

The result means more than 400,000 Brisbane residents have a federal Greens representative for the first time – a factor expected to heavily influence the March council result. The Greens source also said teams were doorknocking across the city for months, and had experienced a huge rush of memberships and volunteers since the federal result.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner used his speech at the recent LNP state convention to implore the party to fight the Greens push.

“The Greens are the most destructive and divisive force in Australian politics,” he said.

“They are the ultimate con artists. They are peddling snake oil to voters. Their agenda is fraudulent and highly destructive. While the major parties focus on each other, the Greens have had a rails run.”

Mr Schrinner also said “the Greens are not some benign force that cares about the environment – in fact at the council level, they’ve barely mentioned (it) in the past seven years”.

“But when you combine an emboldened Green Party with a desperate Labor opposition, you get the ideal conditions for a Labor/Green alliance,” he said. “You can be sure if Labor is able to regain City Hall by doing a deal with the Greens, Labor might technically be in office but the Greens would be in power.”

But the Greens have accused the LNP of running scared.

“I’m not surprised the LNP are worried and running a fear campaign,” the Greens source said. “After 20 years they’re out of ideas.”