Ambitious Greens say ‘conditions perfect’ to pick up Brisbane seats

“Conditions are perfect” for the Greens to sweep Brisbane and more than triple their seats in state parliament, according to first-term MP Amy MacMahon.

Ahead of the state election on October 26, the progressive party believes it is on track to add Cooper, Greenslopes, Miller and McConnel to its existing seats of South Brisbane and Maiwar. It may also improve its showing in Stafford, Moggill, Clayfield and Bulimba.

While polling suggests the Liberal National Party will take government, the Greens expect a historic result of their own. If successful in every electorate it believes is within reach, the Greens could end up representing a third of all Brisbane residents.

State Greens MPs Amy MacMahon (right) and Michael Berkman at a CFMEU rally in Brisbane.Credit: Instagram

“The conditions are perfect for the Greens to pick up new seats at the moment, and we’re looking forward to having a big team of MPs,” MacMahon, the Member for South Brisbane, said on Friday.

“We’re well positioned to pick up new seats because we are the only party talking about genuine solutions to the challenges of cost of living and the cost of housing.”

The comments came during an ongoing political debate over housing policies. MacMahon slammed the incumbent government for its record and recommitted to a slate of market interventions.

“Most people feel like labor and the LNP have kicked renters under the bus … they have continued to put their property investor and real estate lobby mates first,” MacMahon said.

“We’ve been pushing for a two-year rent freeze followed by a long-term rental cap. We’ve been fighting to give renters a guaranteed right to a lease renewal. We’ve been fighting for an empty homes levy to get empty homes back into the rental market.

“We’re also pushing to establish a public developer to build 100,000 public homes to tackle the fact that labor and the LNP have massively underinvested in public housing. We’ve put forward a proposal to set up a state-owned bank that would be able to offer interest rates 1.5 per cent cheaper than the big banks.”

She said support of these policies would be key in any negotiations with a minority government after the next election.

Labor Premier Steven Miles and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have consistently criticised the Greens while opposing local development.

“Greens policies will not deliver a single additional, affordable house for a Queenslander,” Miles said last year.

“The only thing a policy like that would do, is drive investors out of the market and cause people to stop developments that are already underway.”

Michael Berkman became the Greens’ first ever elected state MP when he won Maiwar in 2017. He was joined by MacMahon at the 2020 election when she defeated Labor powerbroker Jackie Trad.

The duo drew attention this month when they rallied alongside CFMEU members opposing Labor-led administration of the union, which is facing serious allegations of corruption.

The Greens picked up seats at the last federal election and a second ward in the Brisbane City Council election in March.