Anthony Albanese warns Adam Bandt and Greens over blocking legislation after poor Queensland election results

Anthony Albanese has issued a warning to Adam Bandt and the Greens over blocking the bill in Parliament after poor results in Queensland on Saturday left the minor party without seats in the state.

Despite Labor’s Steven Miles conceding defeat in the Queensland state election on Sunday morning, Mr Albanese praised the former prime minister, saying he ran an “effective campaign” but Labor would struggle to win a fourth term after nine years in power.

The comments came as LNP leader David Crisafulli began his first day as elected prime minister, speaking for more than 20 minutes.

After predicting a landslide victory over Labor, Queensland narrowly elected the LNP, which was on track to secure a 47-seat majority in Parliament.

But the Greens, who previously held two seats in the last parliament and were hoping to increase their share, were on track to lose Maiwar and Brisbane South to the LNP and Labor respectively.

“The people who elected Green Party representatives to state and federal parliament expected them to play a progressive role, not a blocking role; strive to bring people together rather than divide them,” Mr. Albanese said.

“I think this result means a lot for Adam Bandt. “I think this is the first time that a Greens elected member who was elected for a full term has lost his seat.”

The Prime Minister said the Greens’ loss of South Brisbane to Labor deputy premier Jackie Trad in 2020 challenged the belief that once seats were lost on the backbenches, Labor would not be able to win them back.

“Of course last night that turned out to be wrong,” he said.

“The Queensland Labor Party has been in power for three terms. They had to deal with a number of problems and challenges, but winning a fourth term in office is difficult.”

Queensland senator Murray Watt said on Sunday Queenslanders were experiencing “buyer’s remorse” from the Greens, saying it gave Labor hope of winning back seats lost in 2022.

“This gives us real hope that we can win back the Griffith seat and potentially get the Brisbane and Ryan seats as well,” he said.

“What really came out of those voters who currently belong to the Greens at the federal level was a sense of buyer’s remorse.

“People voted Green at both the state and federal level expecting to see progressive solutions, and all they ended up getting was a bunch of blockers and extremist activists who seem increasingly out of touch with what they think.” voters in these regions.

“We’ve had a lot of feedback that people have really noticed Max Chandler-Mather on stage with the CFMEU, pursuing extreme goals there.”

Mr Crisafulli said the Prime Minister had been “generous” with his time, with the pair having a 20-minute conversation on Sunday morning.

Among the issues raised, he said, was the federal government increasing infrastructure funding to 80 percent of projects rather than the current even split.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton congratulated Crisafulli on his victory, saying Queenslanders wanted change.

“They wanted to take action on crime, cost of living, health care and housing, and they voted for it,” he said in a post on X.

“I wish David and his new LNP government all the best in delivering a fresh start for Queenslanders.”

Mr Miles, who is set to remain Labor leader after defeat, admitted his speech on Saturday night was “rushed” after he refused to concede victory in the election.

“Last night’s result was much better than expected, but clearly far from sufficient for a Labor victory. I’m very proud of the campaign I ran and the government that led these last 10 months, but at the end of the day, it’s clear Queenslanders have wanted to see a change of government for some time,” Miles said.

“You’ve been watching opinion polls for a long time, they predict a very, very bad result. The fact that many deputies remained in their seats is their merit, but I also want to pay tribute to the election campaign that we conducted.”