‘Comprehensively rejected’: Penny Wong lashes out at Greens’ Adam Bandt with brutal comparison

The Foreign Affairs Minister has broken her silence on the state of the Greens leadership after the party suffered a major election blow.

Penny Wong has unleashed on Greens leader Adam Bandt, who is clinging on to his seat in Melbourne as the vote count continues into its fourth day.

Mr Bandt is battling it out with Labor candidate Sarah Witty, with a preferential re-throw putting the leader in danger of losing the seat of Melbourne, which he has held since 2010.

Going into the election with four seats, the Greens suffered a significant blow by losing two of them in Queensland, Griffith and Brisbane.

Counting is also still underway in Ryan, where MP Elizabeth Watson-Brown is fighting to cling on to her seat, with just a few votes between her and Liberal candidate Maggie Forrest.

Adam Bandt might lose his seat in Melbourne, which he has held for 15 years. Picture: NewsWire/Ian Currie

Speaking to Karl Stefanovic on Today, the Foreign Affairs Minister said the election results may be a sign that the Australian people “rejected the politics of conflict and … grievance”.

With a core focus on the housing crisis, climate change and the Israel-Hamas conflict, Senator Wong argued that some of the Greens’ messaging may not have resonated with the general public and the party became sucked into culture-war politics.

She then struck a stark comparison between the Greens leader and the Coalition’s former leader.

“Unfortunately, Adam Bandt, you know, in some ways is quite like Peter Dutton,” she said.

“It’s the same conflict. It’s the same … frankly, sometimes quite aggressive and the same politics of protest and grievance.

“I think Australians have comprehensively rejected that.”

Penny Wong compared Mr Bandt to Peter Dutton.

In the wake of the election result, Senator Wong argued that Mr Bandt should regroup and reflect on the party’s messaging and how it impacted the Australian people.

“My suggestion to Adam Bandt is perhaps he should consider what the message (that) Australians sent to all of us in parliament,” she said.

When the Today host asked if Senator Wong had made a “mistake” with comments about reviving the Voice during the election campaign, she skirted the topic and doubled-down on the country’s rejection of “culture-war politics”.

“People were concerned about Medicare. People were concerned about cost of living. People were concerned about tax cuts. People were concerned about schools and hospitals and bulk-billing and fee-free TAFE,” she said.

“That’s what Australians wanted to see.

“They weren’t interested in the Peter Dutton Liberal Party culture wars.”