Opinion: Greens surge puts Jackie Trad’s political future in doubt

If we take Deputy Premier Jackie Trad at her word, she’ll be standing for South Brisbane at the next state election. The strong Green vote in that area at the weekend’s council election means the clock is ticking on her career, writes Peter Gleeson.

DEPUTY premier and Treasurer Jackie Trad’s political career is finished. It’s all over. Dead, buried and cremated.

Unless of course she does the unthinkable and persuades a sitting safe Labor MP into retirement and gives up on her South Brisbane constituents.

Historic Greens vote sees party surge in inner Brisbane

Jackie Trad won’t be drawn on Green threat to South Brisbane seat at the next election

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But if we take her at her word, as she has said publicly many times, Trad will face the music in the seat of South Brisbane on October 31. As a politician of conviction, and one never to shirk from a fight, there is no reason to doubt her decision to recontest South Brisbane.

Of course, the politically smart and savvy thing to do would be to get the hell out of her inner city seat. But with hubris and arrogance replacing logic and common sense, those are traits the Deputy Premier has sadly lost. Anybody looking for a cheap house near the Gabba?

Deputy Premier and Member for South Brisbane Jackie Trad. Picture: Annette Dew

The reason Trad is a shot duck is that the Greens are an emerging force in Brisbane, as the Brisbane City Council results show. Their marquee player, Jonathan Sri, was returned with a triumphant increase in his primary vote of more than 17 per cent.

But the real danger for Trad was the result from the West End booth, where the Greens polled 52 per cent of the vote, compared to Labor’s 22 per cent.

West End is the epicentre of the South Brisbane electorate. To make matters even worse, on

October 31, the LNP will preference against Trad, putting the Greens in front of her on the how to vote card.

Had the LNP done that at the last election, Trad would have lost. Now, with a storming and

exploding Greens vote in inner city Brisbane, Trad faces the double whammy of eroding Labor support and the LNP preferencing against her. The figures don’t lie. It is increasingly clear that in these times of uncertainty disaffected Labor voters and young millennials are gravitating towards the Greens.

Greens councillor Jonathan Sri has been reelected to Brisbane City Council. Picture: Glenn Hunt

And while Trad’s political career appears doomed, it’s her brand in the regions that will sink Labor come October 31.

Her Left wing policies on coal, vegetation management, abortion and youth crime are not playing out well in the regions, particularly mining communities in Central and North Queensland. The bush is doing it tough and Labor will struggle to win a seat north of Noosa.

Trad’s political career is reflective of the Greek tragedy, the story of Icarus.

After the surprise Labor win in 2015, Trad’s star shone brightly, but emboldened with the numbers, and a relentless zeal to crush conservative policies aimed at creating prosperity, she flew too close to the sun and is now flaming out spectacularly.

I’ve said it a hundred times and I’ll say it again. Queensland won’t cop socialism. Trad’s brand of the politics of envy is about to be consigned to the dustbin – hopefully forever.