Bandt Optimistic as Greens Face Prospect of Losing Majority of Seats

The Greens are projected to lose two Queensland seats, while leader Adam Bandt is in danger of losing to Labor candidate Sarah Witty.

Greens Leader Adam Bandt speaks to media in the seat of Wills in Melbourne, Australia, on May 3, 2025. Morgan Hancock/Getty Images

Greens leader Adam Bandt is remaining positive as his left-wing party looks likely to lose most of its lower house representation as vote counting continues.

In the 2022 election, the Greens won a total of four seats, with three in Queensland and one in Victoria.

However, counting so far indicates that the Greens will likely lose two Queensland seats–Brisbane and Griffith–by a large margin, and Bandt’s seat of Melbourne also faces major pressure.

The State of Play for the Greens

In the seat of Brisbane, Greens candidate Stephen Bates has been completely sidelined in that race as the Labor and Coalition outperform him.

Labor candidate Madonna Jarrett is leading with a two-party-preferred swing of 6 percent away from Liberal National Party candidate Trevor Evans.

Jarrett’s lead came as a result of a drop in support for the Coalition.

While Labor experienced a 5.2 percent increase in its primary vote compared to the previous election (on 27,653 votes), while the Coalition fell by 3.8 percent. The Greens’ recorded a decrease of 0.8 percent.

In Griffith, Renee Coffey is set to defeat Greens housing spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather with a significant two-party-preferred swing of  15.5 percent.

Labor’s first preference votes rose by 5.7 percent, while the Coalition’s and Greens’ decreased by 4.6 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.

Chandler-Mather already conceded his loss on the night of May 3.

On the other hand, the electorate of Ryan in Queensland is the only seat that the Greens are most likely to hold.

Greens candidate Elizabeth Watson-Brown is leading with a 4.2 percent two-party-preferred swing against Liberal National candidate Maggie Forrest.

Labor reported a 5.9 percent increase in first preference votes, while the Coalition and the Greens experienced a drop of  3.7 percent and 1.1 percent.

Amid the bleak results, the Greens sees hope in the seat of Wills, Melbourne’s progressive inner north region, where there is a tight race between Labor candidate Peter Khalil and Greens candidate Samantha Ratnam.

With 75 percent of votes counted, Khalil is leading with a narrow two-party-preferred swing of 3 percent.

Greens Leader’s Future Uncertain

Meanwhile, Greens Leader Bandt is fighting to hold onto his seat of Melbourne, with the balance tipping against him.

Bandt is currently being led by Labor candidate Sarah Witty with a two-party-preferred swing of 8.6 percent.

The Greens saw a 3.3 percent fall in first preference votes, while Labor gained 5.7 percent.

Bandt was confident that his seat would be retained amid the drop in support for the Coalition.

“When there is a big shift from Liberal to Labor, it has flow-through consequences [for the Greens]. We expect we’ll have between one and four seats in parliament once the final votes are counted,” he said.

“We feel confident in Melbourne. We are feeling very good in Ryan and Wills, but there are a lot more votes to count before we have a final determination about those.”

If the final result remains unchanged, Bandt will become the second party leader to lose their seat in this federal election following Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.

At the same time, the Greens leader said the results highlighted strong support for his party and would set up the stage for an “era of progressive change in the parliament.”

“I know people won’t necessarily always be focusing their attention on the Senate vote, but it is worth a look,” he told reporters.

“The Greens have actually a record senate vote. We’re nudging 14 percent at the moment, and we’ll see where it gets to at the end.”