On home turf: housing debate gets personal for targeted Greens spokesman Max Chandler-Mather

‘There is literally no hard economic evidence that allowing property developers to build high-end apartments that no one can afford tackles the housing crisis,’ says Max Chandler-Mather. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

The vacant land of the former Bulimba Barracks snakes its way around a bend on the banks of the Brisbane River.

Here, the river widens and seeps into the fabric of the surrounding suburb – skiffs and canoes sit beside SUVs and road bikes in the garages of restored timber cottages, old Queenslanders and villas adorned with lush, subtropical gardens.