Joe Hildebrand: The only genocide is the Greens’ political demise, while Steven Miles is Albo’s sacrificial bull

Steven Miles has been thrown to slaughter as Albo’s sacrifical lamb, while The Greens, who like to throw the word ’genocide’ around a lot,  would do better to apply it to their electoral fortunes, writes Joe Hildebrand.

Michael Berkman has lost his only other Greens colleague in Queensland Parliament. Picture: Lachie Millard

In Ancient Rome, when the emperor was in need of protection, a white bull would be led to a public altar, be stuck with a knife and have its ­testicles cut off and given to the gods.

In Australia, the name of that bull is Steven Miles.

Miles’s graceless exit as Queensland premier serves many public purposes, but none as useful for the Prime Minister as giving Queenslanders a chance to take out their frustrations with federal Labor on state Labor instead.

It is one of many reasons Anthony Albanese was never going to call an election before the banana benders had put away their brickbats, the primary one being the long and desperate wait for a rate cut.

But the Queensland poll was not just a handy bloodletting exercise for the ALP.

It was also the first large-scale test of the Greens’ ugly descent into anti-Semitism and extremism.

This has already seen the fringe party go backwards in the ACT, but the Canberra bubble is hardly representative of the rest of the country.

In Queensland, where normal people live, the results were nothing short of catastrophic. Delightfully, deliciously and decisively catastrophic.

The Greens like to throw the word “genocide” around a lot. Perhaps they  would do better to apply it to their electoral fortunes in the Sunshine State.

Labor’s Steven Miles delivered a graceless non-concession speech on Saturday night. Picture: John Gass/NCA NewsWire

At the time of writing, they had been wiped out from the parliament altogether.

This offers the incredibly tantalising hope that Labor could actually pick up seats in Queensland at the expense of the Trotskyist tree huggers.

A senior Labor figure told me a few weeks ago that this was a possibility and I contemplated offering him a lift to the nearest psych ward. Turns out the wily old fox knew what he was talking about.

Aside from their own deranged and dangerous rantings, two factors were critical to crushing the Greens into pesto.

The first was the extremely honourable and principled decision by the LNP to preference them last. Decency is a rare thing in politics and it’s important to tag it when you see it so it doesn’t disappear.

It is also often born of bitter experience. Greens leader Adam Bandt only exists in the House of Representatives because the Liberals preferenced him over the Labor Party. Likewise the Greens’ foothold in the Queensland parliament was only made possible by the Liberals preferencing the minor party.

To their credit, both the state and federal LNP are now refusing to touch the little Trots with a barge pole, and this paves the way for Labor to also start dealing with the Libs more strategically in cauterising them.

To this end, the ALP has already started ponying up with the Legalise Cannabis party, a political start-up that is a cheerful combination of laid-back, lefty and libertarian.

Greens federal leader Adam Bandt. Picture: Martin Ollman/NCA NewsWire

Labor snubbed the Greens to do a preference deal with Legalise Cannabis, which according to sources was averaging about 8 per cent in the seats it was contesting. A senior party figure said these preferences looked like they had saved three Labor seats.

You can expect this partnership to be repeated at the federal election, with the relationship between Labor and the Greens nothing short of toxic. God willing, it will help kick them out of Canberra too.

And so the Queensland election ­result was a great day for two people:  David Crisafulli and Anthony Albanese.

In fact, it was described to me as perfect by one Labor insider.

Steven Miles gets the shellacking that his government deserves, but not enough to wipe out the party ­altogether.

The LNP gets its majority and Queenslanders will be going back to the polls just as their honeymoon starts to wear off.

And, best of all, the Greens get absolutely smashed, proving the ALP can afford to cut the commies loose once and for all.

Politics is an ugly business, but this is about as pretty a picture as it gets.

The gods would be well pleased with their sacrifice.

The Real Story with Joe Hildebrand is available wherever podcasts are presented

Originally published as Joe Hildebrand: The only genocide is the Greens’ political demise, while Steven Miles is Albo’s sacrificial bull