Labor’s Murray Watt has accused the Greens of deliberately misleading voters in the tightly-contestedQueenslandseat of Griffith by distributing flyers in Liberal party blue that describe Max Chandler-Mather as an “independent voice”.
The flyers, seen by Guardian Australia, are light blue and read: “If you want a strong independent voice, preference Max Chandler-Mather above Labor”.
Nowhere do they mention that Chandler-Mather is the Greens candidate, though the flyers are authorised by the party’s Queensland state director, Kitty Carra.
According to Labor, the flyer’s were being handed out by Greens volunteers at an early voting centre at St Stephen’s church in Coorparoo, in Brisbane’s south, on Saturday.
Watt, a federal Labor frontbencher and senator for Queensland, criticised the flyers, saying the colour scheme and phrasing were a deliberate attempt by Chandler-Mather to distance himself from the Greens in an effort to hold onto the seat.
“Voters aren’t stupid, they know when someone is trying to pull the wool over their eyes, which is what Max is trying to do here,” Watt said.
“It’s clear that the Greens will do or say anything to hold onto their seats.”
Watt also pointed to corflutes used by Chandler-Mather that describe him as a “strong independent voice in parliament” – though they are green and feature party branding.
The Australian has reported that Greens MP for Brisbane, Stephen Bates,used similar language in a recent brochurein an apparent nod to the popularity of the “teal” independents.
The Greensnational websitealso states: “Elect a Greens MP who will be your strong independent voice and fight for the things you believe in.”
But the Greens defended the messaging, saying variations of the slogan have been used by the party for more than a decade, including during leader Adam Bandt’s 2013 re-election campaign in Melbourne, well before the teal movement.
The party said they produce a variety of authorised campaign materials for different voter groups and noted Chandler-Mather was prominently featured in Greens branding across the electorate.
Chandler-Mather dismissed Watt’s criticism as a sign of desperation from a party on the back foot.
“I’m proud to be independent from billionaires and big corporate donors and I’m proud that we in the Greens will keep Dutton out and get Labor to act,” he said.
He said he was not afraid to reach out to all voters in the electorate no matter who they usually vote for.
“Labor’s hoping to win seats across the country on Liberal preferences, including here in Griffith, and they seem to get very upset that anyone might challenge that,” Chandler-Mather said.
Other Greens party figures, not authorised to speak publicly, also noted Labor’s candidate in the seat, Renee Coffey, had steered clear of traditional red for pink – a colour used by independent Kylea Tink during her successful campaign for the New South Wales seat of North Sydney at the last election.
Griffith, once held by the former prime minister Kevin Rudd, was considered a safe Labor seat until the 2022 federal election, when Chandler-Mather ousted Labor’s Terri Butler.
At that poll, Butler not only lost but fell to third place, with Chandler-Mather picking up the bulk of her preferences and defeating the LNP candidate.
The Greens also seized the neighbouring seats of Brisbane and Ryan from the Liberals, turning the city into a surprise stronghold for the party.
Chandler-Mather was considered the architect of the party’s shoe leather campaigning and“social work” election strategyin the three seats.
Both the major parties are now seeking to claw back the seats from the Greens at the 3 May election.