In some wards, at least. Loading “Woolloongabba (sic) and Brisbane Central have become so big they were way over quota so a shake-up of boundaries was required and Labor may be the winners, although not in The Gabba – that ward will now be tightly contested between the Liberal National Party and the Greens,” Professor Mickel said. “Woolloongabba Ward is the greenest possible electorate on a local, state and federal level.” Professor Mickel, who had earlier given a dire assessment of Labor's chances at the next election, said the review had taken The Gabba’s least Green area, East Brisbane, out of the equation.

“So Labor, already well behind the Greens for votes, has a reduced chance,” he said. Citing the “significant growth” projected in the inner suburbs, the Electoral Commission of Queensland made its proposal public on Friday. Former Labor minister John Mickel, pictured in 2005 with then-premier Peter Beattie. Credit:Robert Rough Under the proposal, Central, held by the LNP’s Vicki Howard, would lose Herston and parts of Newstead and Bowen Hills to neighbouring wards Paddington and Hamilton. The Gabba, held by the Greens’ Jonathan Sri, would also be slashed, with most of East Brisbane and part of Woolloongabba changing ward.

A spokesman for the LNP administration said it would not be making any comments on the ECQ proposal until it could fully analyse the ramifications. Cr Sri said he was still processing the implications. “On the one hand, I see the logic of shrinking the ward, because right now I have almost 50,000 residents in my electorate, which is too many for one councillor,” he said. “A smaller electorate means I will have more time to be able to respond to residents’ requests and proactively advocate on local issues. “On the other hand, I am absolutely devastated to be losing Buranda and East Brisbane from the electorate – particularly the area around the newly expanded Carl Street park, which my office has put a lot of energy (and money) into improving.”

Cr Sri suggested more wards should have been added. “Most of the boundary changes seem quite logical, but the broader problem is that Brisbane’s population has grown dramatically without increasing the number of wards,” he said. “This means the number of residents per councillor keeps increasing, so people have less access to their elected rep – rather than just moving boundaries, we need to actually create new wards.” Cr Sri said Central, Paddington, Walter Taylor and “especially Coorparoo” would become more winnable for his party should the changes be endorsed. Overall, though, Professor Mickel said the changes could “potentially loosen the iron grip” the LNP had on City Hall.

“The LNP were playing a very clever hand with its ongoing renewal strategy in the lead up to the March 2020 elections but I believe Labor now has a glimmer of hope,” he said. For example, Professor Mickel said LNP-held Doboy had become a “solid Labor” seat, while Coorparoo, Northgate and Enoggera also looked “much better” for his party. “It [Doboy] lost a chunk of the electorate to Chandler, which has diluted its conservative voting base,” he said. “The wards of Coorparoo, Northgate and Enoggera are all also looking much better for Labor so the contest in March is going to be much livelier.” The ECQ will accept public submissions about the proposed changes until September 9.