Greens pick Palestinian protest leader to take on Labor in key seat

A key organiser of pro-Palestinian protests will become the Greens’ first Palestinian MP if the party can harness anger over Labor’s stance on the Gaza conflict to snatch a key seat from the government at the next election.

Greens leader Adam Bandt pledged a “huge, people-powered campaign” to win the Brisbane seat of Moreton, one of a handful of electorates where the party hopes its pro-Palestine stance will deliver its most successful election yet.

Remah Naji, a 35-year-old social worker, is an organiser of the Justice for Palestine protest group.

But the left-wing party’s chances in the seat, and in the three others it holds in Brisbane, may be complicated by the Coalition if, as expected, it adopts former prime minister John Howard’s call to put the Greens below Labor on ballot papers over its position on the war.

The Greens’ candidate in Moreton, Remah Naji, is a 35-year-old social worker and an organiser of the Justice for Palestine protest group who supports the movement to boycott Israeli companies and has previously said “people who commit genocide are not our friends”.

“Labor’s refusal to end two-way arms trade with Israel or sanction the Israeli government as it carries out a genocide underscores a wider inconsistency in their core values, and it will cost them seats at the federal election,” Naji said.

Rent freezes and getting dental into Medicare were also among her campaign themes.

After gaining the inner-Brisbane seats of Griffith, Ryan and Brisbane at the last election – adding to its first federal seat, Melbourne – the Greens want to pick up several more to drop Labor below the 76 required for a majority and force Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to meet the crossbench party’s demands to pass bills.

Moreton is held by Labor MP Graham Perrett on a margin of 9 per cent. Perrett, a Left-faction MP viewed as a hardworking local member, will probably retire but has so far refused to confirm he will do so. He would be replaced as a candidate by former Queensland Labor state secretary Julie-Ann Campbell.

The Greens plan to knock on thousands of doors in Moreton, Wills and Macnamara in Melbourne and Richmond in northern NSW, telling voters Labor backs Israel’s invasion of Gaza, a claim made despite the government’s calls for a ceasefire, criticism of the Israeli war effort and rejection of claims it is exporting weapons or ammunition to Israel.

“With more than a third of the seat renting and many residents angry at Labor backing the invasion of Gaza, Moreton voters can now vote for a Greens MP who will fight for change,” Bandt said.

“You can’t keep voting for the same old parties and expect a different result. If you want change, the first step is to vote for it.

“Remah is a powerful voice for peace, and she will fight for a rent freeze, lower mortgage rates and getting dental and mental health into Medicare. The Greens are ready to launch a huge, people-powered campaign to get her elected.”

The Greens have spent months building relationships in Moreton, where 4.7 per cent of the residents identify as Muslim and more than a third are renters.

A Labor source unauthorised to speak on the record suggested the Greens would have less success in the poorer parts of the seat.

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