Greens claim Brisbane seat is second-most winnable in the nation

Ms Butler won with 31 per cent of the first-preference vote at the 2019 federal election, while the Greens achieved a 6.7 per cent swing in their favour.

On Thursday, the Greens will announce Max Chandler-Mather as the party’s candidate for Griffith for the coming federal election, which could be held in just five months.

Mr Chandler-Mather – who contested Griffith in 2019 – said he had lived in the area his whole life and attended West End State School and Brisbane State High.

“Griffith is the second-most winnable seat for the Greens in the country,” he said.

“We only need a 3.5 per cent swing off Labor, and after Jonathan Sri (The Gabba) and Amy MacMahon’s (South Brisbane) wins in the same area, we think we’ve got a good shot.

“We aim to win by knocking on every door in the electorate with hundreds of volunteers chatting to tens of thousands of people – it’s how we won The Gabba ward and South Brisbane and it’s how we’ll win Griffith.”

Mr Chandler-Mather was the Greens’ head strategist for the past four years and responsible for drafting the party’s policy platforms for the past two state elections.

The Greens believe Macnamara in Melbourne – held by Labor – is their most winnable seat, and they are yet to announce other federal candidates in Queensland.

Prior to the Greens, Mr Chandler-Mather worked as a union organiser for the National Tertiary Education Union, and he left the Labor Party in 2013.

The Greens have historically made big claims about the seats that are within their grasp, both federal and state, which did not eventuate.

Before the 2019 federal election, the Greens believed Mr Chandler-Mather could snatch Griffith as they only needed one in five Labor voters to change their mind.

But they were unsuccessful.

At the time, Ms Butler said the Greens would need about 31,000 primary votes to be in a position to win – double the amount they received in 2016 – and suggested the minor party was trying to generate “buzz” to drum up volunteers and donations.

However, sometimes those predictions come true.

At the 2017 state election, the Greens believed they could topple the LNP’s Scott Emerson in Maiwar, despite polling that showed Labor was in a strong position.

And indeed, Greens MP Michael Berkman won the seat.

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The Greens also argued South Brisbane was within their reach at the 2017 election.

While Labor’s Jackie Trad kept her seat at that election, helped by LNP preferences, Greens contender Ms MacMahon snagged South Brisbane in October 2020.

The next federal election could be held any time between August 7 this year and May 21, 2022.