Low and slow: the tactics that have made the Greens a threat in traditionally safe Queensland Labor seats

Amy McMahon, the Greens MP for South Brisbane, says state Labor’s policy shifts are a ‘demonstration the Greens are effective’ in the state. Photograph: Darren England/AAP

At a park in Logan, more than 20km from Brisbane’s city centre, two dozen Greens volunteers stop to take a photograph before heading out to knock on doors.

These are the sorts of intensive “social work”-style campaigning efforts that have been responsible for the leftwing party’s growth in the Queensland capital’s inner suburbs, culminating in the capture of three federal seats in 2022.