The Greens' faux-fundraising lunch at their official launch in King George Square. Credit:Michelle Smith "We believe that shouldn't happen, but if they are accepting that money, they should be open and honest about it and let that information out before the election, which they refuse to do." Mr Pennings said voters needed to know "who's paying their bills". As for the Greens' own bills, Mr Pennings said their campaign would be open and transparent. "We don't get money from any property developers or anyone with a vested interest – we refuse to accept it," he said.

"Anything over $1000 we'll declare within seven days. We're a small party, so we can do that quite easily. "Those guys can do that easily too, but they choose not to, so the real question is: what are they hiding?" Mr Pennings said he did not expect people to contribute large amounts to the Greens' cause. "We're not that sort of party and people know that," he said. "We may get some donations over $1000, but it's more likely we'll get lots of donations of $20, $50, and people do it because they like our values and what we stand for."

While not releasing any policies at the launch, Mr Pennings said transport was Brisbane's most pressing issue and he criticised the TransApex network of toll roads. "Council's $1.6 billion in debt, about $1400 a person, man, woman and child and that's paying off something that hasn't reduced congestion," he said. Mr Pennings said the Greens would release their "integrated transport policy" closer to the election. "It's about better bus services, about linking in with bus services, cycleways and things that get people off the road because they want to be off the road," he said. Mr Pennings also backed Labor's call for the council not to enter into any construction contracts for the $650 million Kingsford Smith Drive upgrade.

Labor lord mayoral candidate Rod Harding said his party would scrap the project and, as such, Lord Mayor Graham Quirk should not enter into any contracts. On that point, Mr Pennings was singing from the same hymn sheet. "It's a pretty open election," he said. "The Lord Mayor is very popular and he'd be favourite to get back in, but the Lord Mayor may get in with a Labor majority in council. "…We're confident of winning a couple of wards – we're looking at swings of 7 and 11 per cent for two wards that we're quite confident of getting.

"So that's an important thing for us. We're concerned as well that they don't go and open ratepayers up to having to pay out a chunk of money in compensation. "(The election) is only a few months away, so we should be waiting." The Greens have so far preselected 18 ward candidates, only four of whom were women, and considered themselves a real chance to win Paddington (where Michael Kane is standing), The Gabba (Jonathan Sri) and Central (Kirsten Lovejoy). Mr Pennings conceded it was unlikely he would wear the mayoral chains following the March 19 election. "A win for the Greens is to get more people to support us," he said.

"It's to force the other parties into some better policy, but also to win a couple of wards. "We're a growing and very ambitious party and we see very little, particularly at a local level, between the two major parties. "They've got very similar policies in a lot of areas, they both accepting the money that we're concerned about and we see ourselves as quite a third force alternative."