Labor MP all smiles as Greens’ Brisbane wave looks like a ripple

Premier Steven Miles’s environmental credentials and Jonty Bush’s stance on youth crime could keep her electorate in Labor hands.

Jonty Bush campaigning in Brisbane’s Bardon on Thursday. Picture: John Gass

All smiles on the campaign hustings in her wealthy city electorate – Labor’s Jonty Bush isn’t spooked by the so-called Greens wave building to sweep her from office.

The first-term MP holds the inner-city seat of Cooper, centred on Ashgrove, on a 10.5 per cent margin over the LNP.

It, along with Minister Grace Grace’s next-door McConnel electorate, is high on the hit list of the Queensland Greens.

Ms Bush recorded a 34.1 per cent primary vote in 2020 compared to the Greens’ 29.6 per cent.

FOR UNPARALLELED STATE ELECTION COVERAGE, FOLLOW THIS LINK

Ms Bush is again being challenged by the Greens’ Katinka Winston-Allom, who could defeat the Labor MP if she finishes first on the primary vote.

Polling commissioned and released by the Greens this week, however, showed its Brisbane vote at 16 per cent.

Ms Bush shot down a suggestion the softer Greens’ support would put a spring in her step and insisted she hadn’t looked at polling.

“I try not to, I honestly am focused on what I can control which is my output,” she said.

“People know who I am and value that I’ve worked hard.”

Ms Bush said Premier Steven Miles’s environmental credentials and her stance on evidence-based crime solutions were resonating.

Crime remains a concern, however, with Ms Bush doorknocking one Bardon lady who had been broken into.

“I don’t try to say to her crime’s going down or there’s nothing to worry about, it’s a genuine issue and when someone’s been broken into it’s terrifying,” she said.