This was published 4 years ago
Greens celebrate record swings in Brisbane wards
By Lucy Stone
While the final results for Brisbane City Council's election are still days away, the Greens are already celebrating a powerful swing towards them in several LNP-held wards, as well as a strong boost in incumbent Jonathan Sri's ward, The Gabba.
As the Electoral Commission of Queensland continued the vote count on Monday, after a website glitch saw few early numbers uploaded on Saturday night, Cr Sri said he had seen a swing of about 17 per cent to the Greens in his ward.
Greens lord mayoral candidate Kath Angus and Cr Jonathan Sri pledged to "clean up" Brisbane City Council's planning legislation.Credit: Lucy Stone
Cr Sri won the ward in 2016 on Labor preferences, but now appears to have been reinstated with greater support from electors and a primary vote close to 50 per cent.
He fended off a challenge from Labor's candidate Rachel Gallagher, an urban planner who also appealed to ratepayers on issues around planning and density.
The LNP's Nathaniel Jones, a police officer who did almost no public campaigning, appears to have beaten Ms Gallagher so far in the primary vote, with 42 per cent counted for The Gabba.
"Right across the city we've seen massive swings to the Greens," Cr Sri said.
"We've seen swings of around 15 per cent in quite a few wards. We've beaten Labor in nine wards - we've actually out-polled the Labor party in nine of the 26 wards and we're looking really strong particularly in Coorparoo, Walter Taylor, Central and Paddington."
Kath Angus, the lord mayoral candidate for the Greens, brought a different aspect to the race for City Hall, performing well in the only debate to include all three candidates and offering a broader vision for the city.
After 60 per cent of the lord mayoral primary vote was counted, Ms Angus had won more 15 per cent of the primary vote.
In 2016, Ben Pennings for the Greens won 10 per cent of the total primary vote.
The Greens campaigned hard to unseat LNP incumbent Peter Matic in Paddington, with the vote as of Monday "neck-and-neck" but still too close to call.
Walter Taylor ward in Brisbane's west, held by newly-appointed LNP councillor James Mackay, also reported a strong swing to the Greens' Michaela Sargent, and in Central, Trina Massey for the Greens brought down the margin held by the LNP's Vicki Howard.
While the wards themselves are still too early to call in many cases, the Greens are looking at the Brisbane vote as a promising forecast for the state election later this year.
Cr Sri said the shutdown of ordinary life due to the coronavirus pandemic meant the Greens could no longer doorknock, their most effective campaign strategy, and had to rely on telephoning prospective voters instead.
He said many people also reported not receiving their postal votes in time to return them to the ECQ, which could also affect the Greens vote.
"The mayoral primary vote in the 2016 election was only 10 per cent, and now it's 16 per cent citywide," Cr Sri said.
"What's been really resonating with voters is giving people control over the big end of the city. People were frustrated about over development, frustrated about poor planning. They like that the Greens have been standing up against property developers and big business ... that's what seems to be swinging votes."