Child feared dead in Toowoomba house fire; Homeless to be moved on for Paniyiri; Chandler-Mather laments ‘sick’ parliament after ousting

Ousted Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather has called parliament “bloody awful” and a “sick place” in an interview with the ABC on Tuesday evening, days after conceeding defeat in the Brisbane seat of Griffith.

Chandler-Mather’s hard-line stance on growing public housing supply drew the ire of the government in the previous parliamentary term, causing the Greens MP to face extensive derision from the rest of the chamber.

Anthony Albanese took a thinly veiled swipe at Chandler-Mather and ousted Liberal housing spokesperson Michael Sukkar upon returning to Canberra on Monday, saying that “part of the reason why they’re not in the parliament is that they held up public housing”.

In his first interview since losing his seat, Chandler-Mather told triple j’s Hack program that while he was “proud of his work” he would not miss parliament, which he described as “bloody awful” and a “sick place”.

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“We were getting attacked because we said we should spend a bit more on public housing and give something for renters,” Chandler-Mather said.

“Can you imagine if you’re in a workplace and you have people in that workplace coming up and just yelling and screaming at you while you’re trying to give a speech … it’s odd.”

Chandler-Mather shared optimism for the Greens’ prospects in the new term despite losing his own seat, flagging confidence in the minor party retaining the seats of Melbourne and Ryan, while maintaining considerable influence in the Senate. The Greens also conceded defeat in Brisbane, which was held by Stephen Bates.