‘Might be a bit lonely’: sole Greens MP claims victory

[Pelican Press 0]

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‘Might be a bit lonely’: sole Greens MP claims victory

The only Greens MP in the House of Representatives has promised to fight for progressive reform after the minor party’s near wipeout in the lower house.

Elizabeth Watson-Brown was the only lower house Greens member to hold on at the federal election, recording a narrow victory in the Brisbane seat of Ryan.

The Greens went into the election with four seats but lost three to Labor, including leader Adam Bandt’s electorate of Melbourne.

The party will elect its next leader on Thursday.

Ms Watson-Brown, who said the party would examine where it went wrong, pledged to continue the work of her former colleagues.

“It might be a little bit lonely on the floor,” she told reporters in Brisbane on Tuesday.

“I am desperately going to miss my mates. They were incredible.

“The Greens party room is our strength, so every one of us is part of the decision-making around legislation and around policy.

“We are going to be combing over the entrails (of the election losses). We need to work out how we actually do that.”

The Greens will hold the balance of power in the Senate, with Labor only needing the minor party to pass legislation in the upper house.

Queensland senator Larissa Waters said the party was willing to work with the government to implement changes.

“If the Labor Party would like to actually fix the problems that people are facing, the Greens stand at the ready to help them do that,” she said.

“There’s now no excuse for the Labor Party not to take the climate crisis seriously, to take real action on the housing crisis, to genuinely tackle the cost of living.

“People deserve more than just tinkering.”

Senator Waters said the party was “devastated” to lose Mr Bandt, Max Chandler-Mather and Stephen Bates as MPs.

“We will consider whether we have any lessons to learn … people deserve representation that’s for them,” she said.

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