Senator Murray Watt says voters have ‘buyers remorse’ over Greens in election warning

After a bruising election result on Saturday, a senior Labor minister issued a warning to the minor party stating voters were beginning to have “buyers remorse”.

The Greens have been warned voters have “buyers remorse” following a bruising Queensland state election defeat, with fears patterns could continue into next year’s federal election and allow Labor to win back three key seats.

Despite boasts to claim 10 seats from Labor, the Greens stand to lose the electorate of South Brisbane to Labor’s Barbara O’Shea.

The Greens’ second seat, Brisbane electorate Maiwar, is being projected by the ABC to record a 5.2 per cent swing to the LNP, however more counting is needed to determine whether it will be held by current MP Michael Berkman.

Federally, the Greens have consistently attacked Labor over its handling of the conflict in the Middle East and have withheld support and blocked the government’s key housing legislation, including Labor’s shared-equity Help to Buy scheme.

Labor Senator Murray Watt said Saturday’s result was proof voters were unhappy with the Greens performance and said the sentiment could spill over into the next feledction. Picture: NewsWire/ Martin Ollman

However Senior Labor minister Murray Watt said Saturday’s result should serve as a warning ahead of the federal election, and said there was a “real sense of buyer’s remorse”.

“People voted for the Greens, both at state and federal level, expecting to see progressive solutions delivered, and all they’ve ended up getting is a bunch of blockers and extreme activists who seem increasingly out of touch with what voters in those areas think,” Senator Watt told Sky News on Sunday.

He said it gave Labor hope that it could unseat the Greens from the three inner-city Brisbane seats of Griffith, which is held by outspoken housing spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather, Brisbane, which is held by Stephen Bates and Ryan (Elizabeth Watson-Brown).

All three seats were won by the minor party from either Labor or the LNP in the 2022 federal election.

Senator Watt eyed Griffith, currently held by Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather, as a seat Labor could win back. Picture: NewsWire/ Martin Ollman

“We’ve had a lot of feedback that people really noticed Max Chandler-Mather on stage with the CFMEU, pursuing an extreme sort of agenda there,” said Senator Watt.

“They’re obviously trying to whip up anger and anxiety in the community over Palestine and constantly blocking Labor when we try to deliver progressive reform on things like housing and even creating an Environmental Protection Agency.

“I think people are starting to see through the Greens here in Queensland.”

However, Mr Chandler-Mather said Labor should stop attacking the federal Greens and work with the party to implement “popular policies” like bringing dental into Medicare, rent caps or building public housing. “Labor spent so much time and energy trying to stop the Greens in Brisbane, they abandoned the suburbs and regions and handed government to the LNP, giving up the opportunity to form a minority government with the Greens, betraying progressive voters across the state,” he said.

“Labor MPs are completely out of touch with progressive voters, celebrating the win of an LNP government in Queensland. If federal Labor is looking to repeat this result federally, that means picking fights with the Greens exclusively and handing government to Peter Dutton.”

Originally published as Senator Murray Watt says voters have ‘buyers remorse’ over Greens in election warning