Social work as a political strategy: Greens aim to grow a grassroots campaign in a Brisbane seat

Greens’ Griffith candidate Max Chandler-Mather is hoping his ‘positive change’ campaign can swing the inner-city Brisbane seat away from Labor. Photograph: Russell Freeman/AAP

On a sticky autumn Saturday, three weeks out from the election, Greens candidate Max Chandler-Mather is going door-to-door, talking to voters in the southern Brisbane suburb of Carina.

Many people greet him with a twinkle of recognition. One woman offers him a glass of water. Harsha, a Sri Lankan-Australian, tells Chandler-Mather he’s the first candidate or local member for the seat of Griffith to knock on his door in the 20 years he’s lived at the property.