The Greens are hoping to pick up a second Senate seat in Queensland, which they describe as a key battleground state.
Larissa Waters – currently the state’s only Greens Senator – says the party needs a mere 1.5 per cent swing towards it to achieve this at the upcoming federal election.
The left-wing party on Wednesday unveiled its three upper candidates and appeared upbeat about its prospects of defeating its political opponents.
“We want to kick out Pauline Hanson and resist billionaires like Clive Palmer taking over the Senate. And we’ve got the people to do it,” Senator Waters told reporters.
Senator Waters is not up for re-election this year as her six-year Senate term expires in 2025.
She was joined by the three Senate candidates at a media conference on the Sunshine Coast on Wednesday morning.
Gladstone public school teacher and unionist Penny Allman-Payne will take the first spot on the Greens’ Queensland ticket.
She will be followed by Caloundra veterinarian and public health advocate Anna Sri and Brisbane social scientist and environmental activist Ben Pennings.
The group will face off against One Nation leader Senator Hanson and Mr Palmer, the mining magnate turned Senate-hopeful for the United Australia Party.
Senator Hanson’s right-wing, populist party may be at risk of losing disaffected, anti-lockdown voters to the UAP, with both parties planning to run candidates in all 151 lower house seats this year.
In a statement earlier on Wednesday, Senator Waters said the Greens were hoping to hold the balance of power in the upper house after the election.
Senator Hanson ridiculed the idea, claiming she could see the “consummation” between the Greens and Labor “and it’s not pretty”.
“The notion of the Greens holding the balance-of-power in the federal parliament is a greater threat to Australia than any concept of global warming,” she said.
However, Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese and Greens Leader Adam Bandt – the party’s only lower house MP – have both ruled out working together in the case of Labor winning minority government this year.
Senator Hanson’s upper house colleague, Malcolm Roberts, is not up for re-election this year and the duo is hoping to maintain its power in the Senate.
In the current Parliament, the coalition holds 36 oxjmtzywf the 76 upper house seats to Labor’s 26, which leaves the government dependent on crossbenchers to pass legislation.
The Greens hold nine of those seats and the rest are held by minor parties such as One Nation.
Senator Hanson on Wednesday confirmed her party will run on a platform of demanding a royal commission into the way Australia handled its Covid-19 response.
“I don’t take my role as a Queensland Senator for granted, and my record for honesty and representing the people of this state and country speak for themselves,” she said.
The Greens have said their focus in Queensland will include transitioning from coal and gas to green economy jobs and making education and childcare free and accessible.
The federal election is yet to be called, but it is expected to be held sometime in May.
