Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather says the party will take an “honest look” at its policies after the Queensland election

Federal Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather says his party needs to take a “long and honest look” at its policies and strategy following its dismal performance in the Queensland election.

The Greens are expected to lose their seat in central South Brisbane and have retreated in neighboring Maiware after incumbent Michael Berkman lost 7.4 per cent of the vote.

Despite launching the biggest door-knocking campaign of any state or territory, the party also failed to win any of the four seats it targeted – McConnell, Cooper, Greenslopes and Miller.

CFMEU MEMBER RALLY IN BRISBANE — Federal Green Party MP Max Chandler-Mather spoke at a CFMEU rally in Brisbane in August. (AAP Image: Jono Searle)

Mr Chandler-Mather says the Greens need to reflect ahead of next year’s federal election and that will include asking for “candid feedback” from voters who have turned away from the party.

“Part of this is because Labor has obviously adopted many of the policies we campaigned for, including the 50 cent tariff,” he said.

“But the honest answer is we don’t have all the answers yet.

“We will have to take a hard and honest look at our policies and strategy and make sure we are doing things right.

“A key part of this will be honest feedback from the communities we represent and want to represent.”

The Greens’ primary vote in Queensland increased slightly to 9.8 per cent at the election, and there was also a rise in support in some other places inside and outside Brisbane.

But the party has faced criticism that its decline at state level was caused by the stance of federal MPs, particularly Mr Chandler-Mather, on issues such as housing, the conflict in the Middle East and support for the militant construction trade union CFMEU.

Humility is the key

Mr Chandler-Mather said he was “open to feedback and reflection” when asked whether he had taken responsibility for his role as a result.

“It’s a big party here in Queensland. I’m a public figure in this, and if there’s something I can do differently, then of course I’ll be open to feedback,” he said.

Max Chandler-Mather speaks while standing in front of the Budget tree at Parliament House — Max Chandler-Mather says he will listen to feedback on his decisions. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)

“I think humility in politics is an important thing and see if there is anything I could do differently and community members think so, of course I should be open to that.”

At the 2022 federal election, the Greens won three federal seats and a seat in the Queensland Senate.

The party also supported the Paddington ward on Brisbane City Council in local council elections earlier this year.

Amy McMahon lost South Brisbane in the state election. (ABC Radio Brisbane: Kenji Sato)

Kos Samaras, a Redbridge Group pollster, said the collapse of the Green vote had also occurred in NSW local government elections and more recently in the ACT state election.

“What we’re seeing not just in Queensland but across the country is the phenomenon that they have an entry and exit problem,” he said.

“The Green vote extends across a large geography, but where it has historically dominated, its numbers have declined.

“They are losing voters among older millennials and seem to have consciously embarked on a national strategy to try to attract younger voters between the ages of 18 and 34.

“This strategy is based on being much more radical in policy areas like foreign affairs and coming across as very, very aggressive towards the Labor Party, and that sort of disenfranchises the old progressives.”

A journalist sits opposite a Green MP during an interview. — The biggest surprise of the Queensland election was the collapse of the Green Party. (ABC News: Mark Leonardi)

Mr Berkman won Brisbane’s inner west Maiwar in 2017 and the party doubled its representation in state parliament when Amy McMahon won Brisbane South in 2020.

While Mr Berkman retained the seat of Maiware, Labor’s Susan Irwin recorded a swing of 7.4 per cent, suggesting the Miles government’s cost of living measures resonated with city center voters.

A “dismal” failure by any standards

John Mickel, an associate professor at QUT and former speaker of the Queensland Labor Party, said the party had created a gap in its support base by moving away from traditional environmental policies.

“They still retain people under 35, but they’ve lost people who are the old Bob Brown conservationists because, by becoming an inclusive party, they’ve become completely unacceptable to that older demographic,” he said.

“These are people who will accept them on environmental issues, but will not accept their extremism towards the Middle East, the CFMEU and, frankly, some of the absurdities of their platform.

“On one page they said there were no new coal and gas projects, and on the next they promised to open a state mine (for the extraction of critical minerals).

“Anyway, they failed in this election, and they failed miserably.”