Adam Bandt still fighting for seat as Liberal vote collapse led to Greens losing seats in Qld

A collapse in the Liberal vote in southeast Queensland is to blame for the Greens losing two of their seats, according to party insiders – with leader Adam Bandt still not safe.

A dramatic collapse in the Liberal vote in southeast Queensland is to blame for the Greens losing two of its three seats according to party insiders, with leader Adam Bandt still fighting for survival in his Melbourne seat.

As the minor party picked up the pieces of an unexpected result, the ongoing count on Sunday also showed a promised surge in support for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation had not eventuated — with the vote ticking up only slightly by 1.3 per cent nationally.

Adam Bandt speaks to the crowd on election night. Picture: NewsWire/Ian Currie

The Greens have lost Brisbane and Griffith in southeast Queensland — and are holding on in Ryan — despite holding on its support base. In both Brisbane and Ryan the Greens primary vote fell just 0.3 per cent, while Max Chandler-Mather in Griffith suffered a swing against him of 1.3 per cent.

Imogen Hunn, Max Chandler-Mather candidate for the Greens, and Emma Ward. Picture: Steve Pohlner

But it was the shock collapse in support for the LNP and those voters heading Labor’s way that ultimately toppled the Greens.

The LNP vote across Brisbane, Ryan and Griffith has dropped 5 per cent according to the latest vote count — on top of the 10 per cent fall in LNP support recorded in those seats in 2022 — to create a nightmare mathematics scenario for the Greens.

Greens sources said the swing against the LNP was “sudden and potent”, coming in the final days of the campaign to catch the party by surprise.

“While we maintained our vote here in Brisbane, the collapse of the Liberal vote has all flowed to the Labor Party,” outgoing Brisbane MP Stephen Bates said in a statement conceding defeat.

Outgoing Brisbane Green MP Stephen Bates. Photo: Instagram

Nationally the Greens vote dropped just 0.3 per cent — despite an expensive negative campaign against them by third party groups including Advance Australia.

The very slight swing has also shown an expected backlash against the Greens for supporting the CFMEU, allegations of anti-Semitism over its stance on the war in Gaza, and that it had drifted too far from its environmentalist roots did not eventuate.

The Greens were on Sunday night confident leader Adam Bandt would hold in Melbourne despite a surge in support for Labor, while the party was still competitive in the neighbouring seat of Wills.

All Greens Senators up for re-election were also expected to be returned.

Nationally One Nation’s vote increased by 1.3 per cent, in a result Senator Pauline Hanson described as a “strong lift in our vote”.

“We’re competitive in Senate races right across the country,” she said. “This swell of support didn’t happen by chance.”

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson at the Lansdowne Crescent Primary School booth. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

As of the latest count Queensland looked likely to return One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts, but the party was not on track to pick up any other upper house spots.

Meanwhile, father of the House Bob Katter was re-elected comfortably for the 12th time after maintaining his primary vote in Kennedy.

In Tasmania, independent Andrew Wilkie was also healthily returned with a primary swing of 3.8 per cent toward him.

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