Unseated Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather rips into Prime Minister Anthony Albanese after scathing ‘attack'
Unseated Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather has hit back at Anthony Albanese after the Prime Minister's scathing remarks about his behaviour in parliament.
Mr Chandler-Mather lost his inner-city Brisbane seat of Griffith to Labor's Renee Coffey at the federal election on Saturday, with Sky News also calling Greens leader Adam Bandt's loss in his seat of Melbourne.
In a sit-down interview with ABC's 7:30 on Wednesday, Mr Albanese commented on remarks made by Mr Chandler-Mather, who had deemed Parliament a 'sick' and 'miserable' place, declaring he was happy to not be working there anymore. — Max Chandler-Mather (@MChandlerMather) May 7, 2025
The Prime Minister said the outgoing Greens MP needed a 'mirror and a reflection on why he's no longer in parliament', stating the remarks were 'a bit rich of him' after being ousted by his electorate after just one term.
Following the Prime Minister's 'attack', Mr Chandler-Mather hit back on social media, arguing the Prime Minister's words were a reflection of a larger issue.
'I feel like the PM launching into another attack on someone who isn't even in parliament, rather than celebrating a historic win proves my point,' he posted to X.
'Which is this is how the political class treats ppl who fight for renters & real change.'
He then urged his supporters to 'compare this to (Mr Albanese's) kind words for (Peter) Dutton'.
In his original comments to Triple J's Hack after conceding, Mr Chandler-Mather had claimed the minor party was prone to getting 'attacked' because of proposed reforms for public housing and renters.
"There were times when I was sitting in parliament and you'd watch both sides of politics team up to defend the stage three tax cuts,' he said.
"Then we were getting attacked because we said we should spend a bit more on public housing and give something for renters.'
Mr Albanese told ABC host Sarah Ferguson Mr Chandler-Mather should examine the way he conducted himself in Question Time, after directing questions at him that the Prime Minister had 'found pretty offensive'.
The Prime Minister also hit out at Greens leader Adam Bandt, claiming his former seat of Melbourne was "very much under a cloud", and stated it was "very difficult to see a pathway in which he will resume his seat in Parliament".
While the Greens are on track to lose three of their four seats in this election, including the electorate of Brisbane - which was also picked up by Labor - Sky News projected on Thursday morning the minor party would keep the seat of Ryan.
Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi declared that despite projections, the party was still hopeful of Mr Bandt retaining the seat of Melbourne.
"As many as 15,000 absentee and declaration votes that have yet to be sorted and counted," she told ABC's Radio National on Thursday morning.
"And often those votes have a swing towards the Greens, so we are waiting for all those votes to be counted, to declare the result."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Age
an hour ago
- The Age
AUKUS agreement: Trump official questions Australia's commitment amid Pentagon review
'That's still a jump ball as far as I'm concerned. Because the Australians have been noticeably fickle. We need to understand, Australia has a population of around 30 million people. It's a remarkably small tax base, and they are making a significant tax investment in this over the next 10 years.' A jump ball in basketball is similar to a ball-up in Australian Rules Football, where either team has a chance of gaining control of the play. Both Labor and the Coalition have expressed consistent commitment to AUKUS. Hendrix has also argued AUKUS does not provide enough capacity for Australian shipyards to repair American and British submarines, as well as Australian ones, and the US should 'more heavily leverage' the agreement. He has said of Australia and the Philippines: 'We're going to need them and their assistance and their basing rights and infrastructure, and I don't think they're ready to host Americans in the way that we're going to need to be hosted to do a counter-campaign to the Chinese invasion.' Hendrix appears to have deleted a number of posts on X about Australia and AUKUS. In one that is still online, from April 2024, he said there were two key questions – 'whether the Australian government will sustain their commitment across the coming years and change of governments', and 'whether the US will actually be willing to give up Virginia-class boats'. Loading Last week, Hendrix welcomed a news story that reported the Pentagon was asking Australia and Japan to make clear commitments about what they would do in a conflict between the US and China over Taiwan. 'Given these nations [are] critical [to] the task of logistically supporting US forces should we come to the aid of Taiwan, this inquiry is legitimate,' he said. 'I would be shocked to find that the previous administration hadn't asked the partners.' Reached by text, Hendrix declined to comment and referred questions to the White House. Spokeswoman Anna Kelly supplied a statement that said US shipbuilding had been neglected for decades and would be boosted by a $US43 billion ($66 billion) investment in the president's One Big Beautiful Bill. 'No president has done more to bolster American maritime power, and his White House Office of Shipbuilding will operate under the Office of Management and Budget,' she said. In their letter to Hegseth, Republican committee chair John Moolenaar and Democratic representative Raja Krishnamoorthi said AUKUS had bipartisan support in Congress for a reason, and that it would strengthen US security as well as that of Australia and the United Kingdom. They noted Beijing's 'unprecedented' live-fire exercises in the Tasman Sea in February. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth watches a display of drone technology at the Pentagon on Wednesday. Credit: AP 'This attempt to project power as far south as New Zealand's front door highlights the importance of AUKUS in cementing ties to longstanding allies like Australia, as well as advancing vital undersea capabilities that will be central to deterrence,' they wrote. 'We are stronger together under the AUKUS framework.' The committee will hold a hearing on Wednesday in Washington on strategies to counter economic coercion by the Chinese Communist Party against democracies. Former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison, who brokered the AUKUS deal, is scheduled to appear, as is former US senator and ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel. Undersecretary of defence for policy Elbridge Colby, who is heading the Pentagon's AUKUS review, has posted actively on social media over the past fortnight, doubling down on his calls for American allies to 'step up'. Loading 'No one at the Pentagon is asking for a blank cheque from our allies. Rather, the United States and our allies all benefit from a reasonable expectation of what contributions we can anticipate each other to make,' he said on Monday, US time. 'That is why we are working closely with our allies to align expectations, an approach akin to what we have with NATO and South Korea. This will make our alliances sturdier and more equitable. That's just common sense.' Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what's making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.
Sky News AU
3 hours ago
- Sky News AU
'Bunch of drunken sailors': Sky News host Steve Price scorns Labor's 'crazy' spending as NDIS budget exceeds defence by a billion
Sky News host Steve Price has hit out at Labor's 'crazy' spending as the NDIS budget overshadows defence while more than half the nation relies on some form of government subsidy. Price said the Albanese government was rightly happy to have won the federal election, but now needed to get the country 'back on track'. A report by the Centre for Independent Studies which found more than half of Australian voters rely on government for most of their income - through wages, benefits or subsidies - was proof of the major challenges ahead, he claimed. 'We have become a nation of leaners, not leaders, and I hate to say that,' Price said. 'We have continued to swamp the country with unprecedented numbers of migrants. We have workers relying on governments for their pay packets. That grows alarmingly.' CIS economist Robert Carling warned such widespread dependence has fuelled unsustainable government spending and eroded economic resilience. In a new paper published on Wednesday, Leviathan on the Rampage, Mr Carling warned federal spending alone has reached 27.6 per cent of GDP. This was up from between 24 and 25 per cent of GDP in 2012-13 and has been fuelled by a 'program expansion in social services, defence and debt interest'. 'How can that be sustainable?' Price said. 'According to that report, spending is driven largely by a small group of programmes including - surprise surprise - the NDIS, Aged Care, Medicare and Defence. The NDIS is actually costing taxpayers more than what we spend on defence. How crazy is that? This year alone, $52 billion on the NDIS. 'Simply not sustainable.' Australia's current defence budget is $51 billion. Price said the Labor government was 'spending like a bunch of drunken sailors'. According to the federal budget 2025-26, the NDIS recorded the second highest annual growth in major payments, behind only interest. It has been projected to cost more than $64 billion by the end of the decade. Meanwhile, the federal budget has been projected to endure a decade of deficits and surge past $1 trillion of debt. The findings come just days after leaked Treasury advice revealed the Albanese government has been told to pursue 'spending reductions'. Treasury said Treasurer Jim Chalmers would need to find 'additional revenue and spending reductions' to ensure a 'sustainable budget'.
Perth Now
3 hours ago
- Perth Now
Vow to protect penalty rates for 2.6m workers
Labor will move to protect penalty and overtime rates for about 2.6 million workers, saying 'hardworking' Aussies rely on the entitlements to 'keep their heads above water'. Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth will introduce the Bill on Thursday, and urged the Greens and Coalition to support the proposed legislation. The law would prohibit the Fair Work Commission to reduce an overtime or penalty rate, or substitute the entitlements if it reduces the overall take-home pay a worker would otherwise receive. An award would not be able to be altered if there was evidence that even a single worker would be worse off under an arrangement which traded an overtime or penalty entitlement. Ms Rishworth said the change would protect about 2.6 million award-reliant workers. 'If you rely on the modern award safety net and work weekends, public holidays, early mornings or late nights, you deserve to have your wages protected,' she said. 'Millions of hardworking Australians rely on penalty rates and overtime rates to keep their heads above water, which is why this Bill is so critical and should receive the support of both the Opposition and the Greens.' Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth is set to introduce the legislation on Thursday. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia The election promise was prompted by a FWC review launched the Australian Retailers Association to allow senior management to take a 25 per cent wage increase above minimum award entitlements in exchange for overtime, weekend and public holiday penalty rates and rest breaks. The move has been backed by the supermarket giants, plus beauty giant Mecca, as well as Kmart, Costco and 7-Eleven. Prior to the election, then employment minister Murray Watt wrote to the FWC to stop large retailers from cutting the entitlements, in a rare act of government intervention. Enshrining penalty rates was a key demand from the Australian Council of Trade Unions, with secretary Sally McManus previously arguing workers should be compensated for sacrificing their weekends. The proposed bill will override the FWC's ability to reduce penalty and overtime rates in modern awards, or substitute the entitlements if even a single worker is worse off. NewsWire/ Nicholas Eagar Credit: NewsWire However, the legislation will likely will likely be opposed by the Coalition, with industrial relations and employment spokesman Tim Wilson stating the independent FWC was already responsible for ensuring 'workers get the best arrangements possible for a fair days work'. Instead he lashed Labor's proposed Bill as being politically motivated. 'There is no threat to penalty rates,' he said on Saturday. 'What there is, is a political focus of the Government that isn't focused towards improving the economic conditions to help small businesses grow, to enable them to go on and employ the next generation of workers, to give those first generation, those first jobs to young Australians so that they can be independent and be able to get on with their economic futures.'
