Greens Suffer Major Swings, LNP and Labor Back in the Contest for Inner-City Voters

Party supporters attend the Greens national campaign launch at Black Hops Brewery in Brisbane, Australia on May 16, 2022. Dan Peled/Getty Images

The only two seats held by the Greens Party in the Queensland state Parliament remain at risk as the left-wing party suffered major swings against it from inner city voters.

At the time of writing, the Greens have not officially secured either seat, and are forecast to lose South Brisbane with a 12.4 percent swing to Labor.

Labor was assisted by preference flows from the Liberal National Party (LNP).

In the affluent leafy electorate of Maiwar, which the Greens have held since 2017, the minor party is slightly ahead amid counting, but the LNP has achieved a 5.2 percent swing of support.

LNP candidate Natasha Winters has secured 48.9 percent of the vote as of 10 a.m. on Oct. 27.

With counting ongoing and postal votes to be accounted for, it is too early to call both seats but the swing against the Greens is evident.

On Oct. 26, LNP Leader David Crisafulli declared victory, which saw the Labor government suffer an overall 6 percent swing against it.

Many key coastal electorates turned against Labor with youth crime, and cost of living being major issues of concern.

The LNP have secured a predicted 48 seats, while Labor are ahead in 30. The KAP looks likely to hold three seats, with a fourth in contention.

Inner City Voters Turned Against Greens: Minister

Federal Labor Senator Murray Watt congratulated his state Labor counterpart for her efforts in the seat of South Brisbane.

“Incredible campaign from Dr. Barbara O'Shea and the Queensland Labor team who have taken it up to the Greens Party in South Brisbane,” he wrote on X.

“Inner city voters have turned against an arrogant and aggressive Greens Party more interested in grandstanding than delivering progressive change.”

In South Brisbane, Labor achieved a 12.4 percent swing of support, now account for 57.1 percent of the overall vote. The Greens hold 42.9 percent—South Brisbane has been a hotbed of development activity which has seen more families move into the area.

However, with votes still to be counted, if the LNP passes Labor during the count, the Greens could still secure the seat on preferences.

Greens Blame Labor’s Campaign Strategy

Greens MP for Maiwar Michael Berkman questioned the campaign strategy of Labor’s Leader Steven Miles.

“You know we saw him say in as many words that he would prefer to see an LNP minority government than deal with the Greens. Today he was in some of our strongest prospective seats campaigning rather than trying to retain others from the LNP It’s a bit mysterious,” he said in an interview with ABC.

Berkman added that one of his biggest takeaways from the result was the fundamental shift in the political landscape in Queensland, and that Labor had adopted “half” of the Greens 2020 election platform.

Green’s Position on Palestine Hurt Their Vote: Activist

Student activist Drew Pavlou blamed the Greens slide on their position on the Middle East conflict.

“Australian Greens were targeting eight seats in Queensland and they’ve potentially lost both seats. Potentially zero Green seats. This is huge victory for Jewish and Iranian community campaigning against Greens support for Hamas,” he said.

Over the past year, Greens MPs have featured in radical protest movements across the country like speaking at violent anti-war protests in Melbourne months ago and appearing at pro-Palestine university encampments.

Federal Greens Brisbane MP Max Chandler Mather was also criticised for standing in solidarity with the CFMEU after it was suspended following criminal investigations.

Graham Young, from the Australian Institute of Progress, echoed the views of Pavlou.

“This undoubtedly reflects the Greens’ overt move to supporting radical left-wing causes like those of terror organisations like Hamas and Hezbollah. They made themselves ‘uncuddly.’ No longer about the environment but about grievance politics,” he told The Epoch Times.

Miles Concedes Defeat, Crisafulli Aims for 2 Terms

Outgoing Labor Premier Miles did not officially concede the election in his speech to the Labor Party faithful at a north Brisbane pub on election night. However, he has since called Crisafulli to concede defeat.

Miles said he gave the election everything he had and that being Queensland’s premier for the last 10 months was the greatest honour of his life.

His words indicated he intends to continue to serve the public and Labor Party in some way in the future, stating “whatever the final number of seats, I will keep doing what matters for Queensland.”

“I will never stop fighting for our Labor agenda, and I will never stop holding the LNP to account.”

In an election night speech to a huge crowd of Liberal supporters, Crisafulli said Queenslanders had voted for “hope over fear.”

“We asked Queenslanders to choose hope over fear and they did. We asked Queenslanders to vote for a fresh start and they did.

Crisafulli vowed to keep his promises and outlined a vision for a long rein in power.

“We don’t do what we wouldn’t do and we have a contract with Queenslanders and we intend to honour it,” he said.

“We haven’t won back-to-back elections in this state since 1986. And you need to understand how important it is if you believe in the values of your political movement, and you believe in the people of your state, it has to be about generational government.

“So we govern with humility, decency, vision, and tenacity, and in doing so we get the opportunity to govern for a longer period of time. And if we get that opportunity, we can do great things.”