A test in Wills: Greens hope Samantha Ratnam’s federal politics gamble will pay off

The federal Greens leader, Adam Bandt, says the fact that the party’s state leader, Samantha Ratnam, is contesting Wills shows the electorate is a priority for them. Photograph: Ellen Smith/The Guardian

It’s a gamble few politicians are willing to make – risk an incredibly safe upper house seat for a tilt at the lower house. The last to attempt it – former Labor senator Kristina Keneally – lost big: her plans to parachute into Fowler, a previously safe lower house seat in Sydney’s south-west, failed specularly, with the party losing to a local independent candidate.

But the Victorian Greens’ leader, Samantha Ratnam – who was formally announced as the party’s candidate for the federal seat of Wills on Friday – insists she has momentum on her side.