Old is new as Greens’ grassroots campaigns win out in Brisbane

Jonathan Sri was the first Greens councillor in Brisbane. Now his campaign manager, Max Chandler-Mather, has replicated the success on the federal political scene.

Max Chandler-Mather with partner Joanna Horton relax at home after winning the seat of Griffith for the Greens following a marathon 15000 doorknocks. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/The Australian

For anyone watching Queensland politics closely in the past few years, the Greens rout of safe Liberal and Labor seats in Brisbane is not as big a surprise as it might be to those outside the resource state.

The march of the progressive minor party began to gather pace in 2016 when two University of Queensland friends teamed up to take a shot at a seat on the Liberal-dominated city council.

Jonathan Sri became the first Greens councillor at town hall.

Afterwards, the party turned to his campaign manager, Max Chandler-Mather, letting him loose with his ambitions to replicate the success on the state and federal political scene.

He was early to recognise discontent among urban voters about the major parties, and years before it was proclaimed as the bedrock of the teal independents he made it all about community campaigning.

The 30-year-old says he went back 100 years to old-style politicking to make history.

Thousands of volunteers were recruited and trained over successive elections, more than 90,000 doors have been knocked on and hundreds of public forums were organised to discuss the ­issues and the party’s policies.

It worked; the Greens followed their council win with two seats in state parliament and now, possibly, three federal MPs and a new senator to join veteran Larissa Waters in Canberra.

Chandler-Mather delivered one of the biggest upsets with an easy win over Labor’s environment spokeswoman Terri Butler to claim the south Brisbane seat of Griffith. Labor had dismissed any real chance of the Greens taking Griffith – conducting their first poll in the seat only two weeks ago – despite the party’s biggest grassroots campaign in its history. Chandler-Mather said the seats were won through a combination of the Greens’ national policies on issues like climate change and six years’ engagement with the local community.

“I personally knocked on 15,000 doors, forums were held and we got involved in community whether it be pushing back on development, helping clean up houses after floods or delivering free food to those isolated during Covid,’’ he said. “People want to be engaged with one-on-one conversation over issues and policy.

“It’s not a super-sophisticated strategy, it’s what political parties did 100 years ago – people want a material connection to those wanting to represent them.’’

The strategy re-enforces the adage that all politics is local, ­especially with Chandler-Mather setting himself apart from Butler – often criticised for being seen more on TV than in the electorate – on issues like aircraft noise.

Chandler-Mather was the only candidate in the seat to run on the Brisbane second runway airport noise issue, calling for a curfew and a cap on flight numbers.

It is an issue that played out in the neighbouring Liberal-held seat of Brisbane, on track to fall to Greens colleague Stephen Bates who also supports a curfew.

Bates leads Labor’s Madonna Jarrett and is likely to claim victory over incumbent Liberal MP Trevor Evans.

And in Ryan, held by the Liberals for all but nine months since it was declared in 1949, the Greens’ Elizabeth Watson-Brown easily defeated government MP Julian Simmonds.