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| Greens' Mt Coot-tha candidate goes from courtroom to political arena | Greens' Mt Coot-tha candidate goes from courtroom to political arena |
| (about 20 hours later) | |
| One of Queensland’s leading exponents of what miners and conservative politicians brand environmental “lawfare” has been thrust into the role of trying to win what the Greens consider their most winnable seat at the next state election. | One of Queensland’s leading exponents of what miners and conservative politicians brand environmental “lawfare” has been thrust into the role of trying to win what the Greens consider their most winnable seat at the next state election. |
| Michael Berkman – a lawyer at the Environmental Defenders Office Queensland who has played a key role in a slew of court battles against Adani, Gina Rinehart’s Alpha Coal and New Acland Coal – will be the Greens candidate for the inner Brisbane seat of Mount Coot-tha. | Michael Berkman – a lawyer at the Environmental Defenders Office Queensland who has played a key role in a slew of court battles against Adani, Gina Rinehart’s Alpha Coal and New Acland Coal – will be the Greens candidate for the inner Brisbane seat of Mount Coot-tha. |
| Berkman will go head to head with the Palaszczuk government environment minister, Steven Miles, also the first to hold the title of minister for the Great Barrier Reef, who was swept to office in 2015 on the back of strong Green preferences. | Berkman will go head to head with the Palaszczuk government environment minister, Steven Miles, also the first to hold the title of minister for the Great Barrier Reef, who was swept to office in 2015 on the back of strong Green preferences. |
| Berkman said it was “an exciting opportunity” to be standing in the state seat the Greens considered most likely to swing their way in the near future. | Berkman said it was “an exciting opportunity” to be standing in the state seat the Greens considered most likely to swing their way in the near future. |
| Coal is still king in their world | Coal is still king in their world |
| His credentials as an environmental scientist, as well as through his extensive work challenging some of Australia’s most contentious mining projects, will be held up as a direct challenge to Miles in an increasingly green-conscious electorate. | His credentials as an environmental scientist, as well as through his extensive work challenging some of Australia’s most contentious mining projects, will be held up as a direct challenge to Miles in an increasingly green-conscious electorate. |
| The Queensland Greens convener and former federal senator Andrew Bartlett said Berkman, who had worked on eight high-profile cases against big miners since 2014, was “an absolute star of the environment movement”. | The Queensland Greens convener and former federal senator Andrew Bartlett said Berkman, who had worked on eight high-profile cases against big miners since 2014, was “an absolute star of the environment movement”. |
| “As a scientist and environmental lawyer he’s dedicated his working life to protect Queensland ecosystems and communities from the excesses of the fossil fuel industry,” Bartlett said. | “As a scientist and environmental lawyer he’s dedicated his working life to protect Queensland ecosystems and communities from the excesses of the fossil fuel industry,” Bartlett said. |
| “His scientific knowledge and experience with complex legislation make him an ideal Green voice in the next state parliament.” | “His scientific knowledge and experience with complex legislation make him an ideal Green voice in the next state parliament.” |
| Berkman said that despite Miles’s advocacy and some wins for environmental reform, Labor’s public support for Adani would “not play well in Mount Coot-tha because he ran so strongly on his credentials in terms of the reef and he personally, ostensibly is opposed to the expansion into the Galilee”. | Berkman said that despite Miles’s advocacy and some wins for environmental reform, Labor’s public support for Adani would “not play well in Mount Coot-tha because he ran so strongly on his credentials in terms of the reef and he personally, ostensibly is opposed to the expansion into the Galilee”. |
| “But he appears to just not have the weight within cabinet to achieve any of those outcomes that his electors in Mt Coot-tha seem to be very concerned about. | “But he appears to just not have the weight within cabinet to achieve any of those outcomes that his electors in Mt Coot-tha seem to be very concerned about. |
| “I don’t think Mt Coot-tha voters will be very pleased by the extreme support the ALP has shown for Adani and Carmichael in particular.” | “I don’t think Mt Coot-tha voters will be very pleased by the extreme support the ALP has shown for Adani and Carmichael in particular.” |
| The recent trajectory of Green voters in parts of inner Brisbane has sounded alarm bells for Labor strategists who warn that the party, while facing a fight in the regions from a resurgent One Nation, also risks being outflanked to the left in the leafy suburbs of the state capital. | The recent trajectory of Green voters in parts of inner Brisbane has sounded alarm bells for Labor strategists who warn that the party, while facing a fight in the regions from a resurgent One Nation, also risks being outflanked to the left in the leafy suburbs of the state capital. |
| The victory of Queensland’s first Greens councillor, Jonathan Sri, to inner south Brisbane ward the Gabba in this year’s local government election raised questions about what kind of challenge Labor’s left faction deputy premier, Jackie Trad, might face in her overlapping South Brisbane seat. | The victory of Queensland’s first Greens councillor, Jonathan Sri, to inner south Brisbane ward the Gabba in this year’s local government election raised questions about what kind of challenge Labor’s left faction deputy premier, Jackie Trad, might face in her overlapping South Brisbane seat. |
| This week, the Greens announced social scientist and community worker Amy MacMahon as the candidate to take on Trad, who has overseen the approval of a controversial West Village development that represents the kind of local concerns MacMahon will tap into. | This week, the Greens announced social scientist and community worker Amy MacMahon as the candidate to take on Trad, who has overseen the approval of a controversial West Village development that represents the kind of local concerns MacMahon will tap into. |
| “Following the Greens victory in the Gabba ward I think people now realise it’s possible for the Greens to win seats in Queensland,” MacMahon said. | “Following the Greens victory in the Gabba ward I think people now realise it’s possible for the Greens to win seats in Queensland,” MacMahon said. |
| The party’s only state representative to date, Indooroopilly MP Ronan Lee, defected from Labor mid-term in 2008 but did not win re-election as a Green. | The party’s only state representative to date, Indooroopilly MP Ronan Lee, defected from Labor mid-term in 2008 but did not win re-election as a Green. |
| The Greens believe MacMahon, who plans to campaign on “sustainable development, corporate donations, housing affordability, and growing wealth inequality”, could win South Brisbane by swinging 1500 votes her way. | The Greens believe MacMahon, who plans to campaign on “sustainable development, corporate donations, housing affordability, and growing wealth inequality”, could win South Brisbane by swinging 1500 votes her way. |
| But nowhere does a Green ascendancy appear more possible than in Mount Coot-tha. | But nowhere does a Green ascendancy appear more possible than in Mount Coot-tha. |
| In 2015, Miles with 32.6% of the primary vote trumped his Liberal National rival on 42.9% thanks to preferences from the Greens on 22.1%. | |
| In the local government election this year, 27.9% of voters in Mt Coot-tha booths put the Greens first, compared with 24% for Labor (with the LNP on 48.1%). | In the local government election this year, 27.9% of voters in Mt Coot-tha booths put the Greens first, compared with 24% for Labor (with the LNP on 48.1%). |
| In the federal election, the Greens took 27% of primary votes in the booths where Labor took 24.9%. | In the federal election, the Greens took 27% of primary votes in the booths where Labor took 24.9%. |
| It’s numbers like these that would exercise the mind of former state Labor secretary, now federal senator, Anthony Chisholm, who said in March that Sri’s election was “something I had always feared happening but always hoped would be avoided [as] the long term repercussions for [Labor] based on the Greens gaining a representative toe hold are dire”. | It’s numbers like these that would exercise the mind of former state Labor secretary, now federal senator, Anthony Chisholm, who said in March that Sri’s election was “something I had always feared happening but always hoped would be avoided [as] the long term repercussions for [Labor] based on the Greens gaining a representative toe hold are dire”. |
| Chisholm, who performed reviews of the New South Wales and Tasmanian election campaigns for Labor, wrote in the Courier-Mail that Sri’s election heralded the arrival of the Greens as serious challengers in urban Queensland. | Chisholm, who performed reviews of the New South Wales and Tasmanian election campaigns for Labor, wrote in the Courier-Mail that Sri’s election heralded the arrival of the Greens as serious challengers in urban Queensland. |
| “The evidence out of NSW and Victoria is once the Greens win lower house seats in the inner city, they are incredibly hard to dislodge and they also are able to expand out to neighbouring seats over time,” Chisholm said. | “The evidence out of NSW and Victoria is once the Greens win lower house seats in the inner city, they are incredibly hard to dislodge and they also are able to expand out to neighbouring seats over time,” Chisholm said. |
| Berkman said he was unsurprised by Chisholm’s comments about the threat to Labor posed by Greens in inner-city Brisbane. | Berkman said he was unsurprised by Chisholm’s comments about the threat to Labor posed by Greens in inner-city Brisbane. |
| “I think they reflect the reality that Labor doesn’t actually provide a real progressive voice for Queenslanders anymore,” he said. | “I think they reflect the reality that Labor doesn’t actually provide a real progressive voice for Queenslanders anymore,” he said. |
| “Those voters on the left who are genuinely concerned about these key progressive issues like a sustainable future, women’s reproductive rights, LGBTI rights, sustainable development more broadly – those voters no longer have a voice in the ALP.” | “Those voters on the left who are genuinely concerned about these key progressive issues like a sustainable future, women’s reproductive rights, LGBTI rights, sustainable development more broadly – those voters no longer have a voice in the ALP.” |
| The state election is due by January 2018 but is widely expected to take place some time in 2017. | The state election is due by January 2018 but is widely expected to take place some time in 2017. |
| Berkman said his campaign would hinge in large part on his own background at the front line of environmental legal battles. | Berkman said his campaign would hinge in large part on his own background at the front line of environmental legal battles. |
| “I think the immediate experience I have with these major resource projects provides a stark contrast to the alternative in Miles and the ALP where coal is still king in their world,” he said. | “I think the immediate experience I have with these major resource projects provides a stark contrast to the alternative in Miles and the ALP where coal is still king in their world,” he said. |
| Berkman agreed his work may also provoke a response from conservatives who have waged a prolonged public relations battle against those who take big miners to court. | Berkman agreed his work may also provoke a response from conservatives who have waged a prolonged public relations battle against those who take big miners to court. |
| “I’ve always viewed the ‘lawfare’ response as fairly shrill and ill-conceived. It’s a sensationalist response to what is a perfectly legitimate exercise of legal rights by concerned community groups and individuals,” he says. | “I’ve always viewed the ‘lawfare’ response as fairly shrill and ill-conceived. It’s a sensationalist response to what is a perfectly legitimate exercise of legal rights by concerned community groups and individuals,” he says. |
| “I think the voters in Mt Coot-tha have a clear enough understanding of these fundamental tenets of democracy and rule of law to recognise that ‘lawfare’ is something of a political scapegoat in circumstances where governments don’t like the choice of particular groups to exercise their rights. | “I think the voters in Mt Coot-tha have a clear enough understanding of these fundamental tenets of democracy and rule of law to recognise that ‘lawfare’ is something of a political scapegoat in circumstances where governments don’t like the choice of particular groups to exercise their rights. |
| “It frustrates me immensely hearing politicians and lobbyists describing ‘vexatious litigation’ when none of it’s vexatious. If any one piece of litigation were vexatious, it would be thrown out of court immediately. It wouldn’t be heard and decided the way all these cases have been.” | “It frustrates me immensely hearing politicians and lobbyists describing ‘vexatious litigation’ when none of it’s vexatious. If any one piece of litigation were vexatious, it would be thrown out of court immediately. It wouldn’t be heard and decided the way all these cases have been.” |