Greens rally thousands for an all-out assault on Labor seats

Greens candidate Amy MacMahon is primed to knock off Queensland Deputy Premier Jackie Trad at the state election.

Queensland Greens candidates Kirsten Lovejoy, left, and Amy MacMahon in Brisbane. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

Amy MacMahon is poised to be the Greens’ giant-slayer, primed to knock off Queensland Deputy Premier Jackie Trad in her marginal South Brisbane seat at the October state election.

In an interview with The Australian ahead of the official candidate announcement on Tuesday, Ms MacMahon said the Greens had recruited thousands of volunteers to target seven Brisbane-based electorates at the poll.

Ms MacMahon ran against left faction leader Ms Trad in South Brisbane in 2017, and lost by fewer than 500 first-­preference votes. She won a swing of more than 12 per cent and narrowed Ms Trad’s margin in South Brisbane from 13 per cent to 3.5 per cent.

The key difference this time is Ms Trad can no longer rely on Liberal National Party preferences, with the LNP confirming it would put the Greens ahead of Labor on how-to-vote cards.

While Ms MacMahon said she wasn’t basing her campaign on the LNP preferencing decision, a senior Labor source said the LNP would have to defend its policy to its regional members.

“I don’t know how the LNP puts the Greens ahead of Labor and looks their regional members in the face,” the source said.

In last month’s Brisbane City Council elections, Greens councillor Jonathan Sri, whose Gabba ward sits entirely in the South Brisbane electorate, recorded a staggering swing and easily retained the seat. At the West End booth, in the heart of South Brisbane, the Greens polled 53 per cent of the vote, compared with Labor’s 24 per cent.

Ms MacMahon said she could beat Ms Trad in October.

“We’ve had another three years of disappointment from this government, we’ve seen property development and mining corporations get big favours, no tangible action on climate change, record high unemployment and housing stress; people are fed up and want change,” she said.

“In South Brisbane, we only need a fraction of the swing we got (in 2017) and we just came off the back of a successful council campaign. We’re planning on thousands of volunteers having phone and online conversations with people across the state.”

Ms MacMahon, who works in local government, said the Greens would campaign on their refusal to take corporate donations, phasing out thermal coal, revitalising Queensland-based manufacturing, building extra social housing, and putting private hospitals in public hands.

She said Adani’s coalmine project in the Galilee Basin was “absolutely appalling,” and criticised the state government for offering Adani a royalties holiday.

Michael Berkman won the Greens first state seat in 2017, beating the LNP in Maiwar. The Greens will focus on retaining Maiwar, and winning South Brisbane, McConnel, Greenslopes, Cooper and Miller from Labor, and Clayfield from the LNP.

Kirsten Lovejoy is again the Greens’ candidate for the inner-city seat of McConnel, held by Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace. Ms Lovejoy lost by 803 votes in 2017.