Brown talked up the Greens’ chances in Brisbane at this election, saying its MPs benefited from the power of incumbency and argued polling that was predicting tight races in Greens seats could be like it was in 2022 when surveys failed to pick up on the Queensland ‘Greenslide’.

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“Adam is a very impressive character,” Brown said. “He’s got my full backing.”

“We’ve seen all the missteps of Dutton, and Albanese has had a number as well. You don’t see that with Adam Bandt; he’s a very sure and steady hand on the tiller and an impressive leader of a minor party which is a very difficult part of the political spectrum.”

Bandt was only the second Greens MP voted into the lower house before 2022, having won his seat of Melbourne in 2010 and holding it ever since. He polled a primary vote of 49.6 per cent at the last election.

Under Bandt, the party has vastly increased its parliamentary representation, helped secure billions in funding for public housing, worked with the government to pass a major emissions reductions scheme called the safeguard mechanism, and claimed they applied pressure on the government to explore changes to property tax concessions last year.

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Brown pointed out the Greens had retained a primary vote of between 12-14 per cent in recent polls, adding that anti-Greens campaigns from right-wing organisation Advance and major parties made it a “David and Goliath” battle.

An Advance spokeswoman said the group was spending $7 million against the Greens this election cycle, including $3 million in the lead up to the campaign and $4 million during it, half of which would go to advertising in Brisbane. “We’re stopping at nothing,” said the spokeswoman, Sandra Bourke.

The rise of teal independents, who take a more moderate approach to the Greens, has also increased competition for volunteers and donations. Three Greens sources, who spoke anonymously to discuss internal matters, said former Greens volunteers were joining Climate 200-backed community independent campaigns, diminishing the party’s pool of experienced and well-off supporters.

At Tuesday’s event, Bandt spruiked the party’s newest election commitment to spend $11.5 billion on free school breakfasts on top of plans to push for the expansion of Medicare into dental, an end to native logging, and the removal of property investor tax breaks.

The 53-year-old former lawyer told this masthead to “ask me in a couple of weeks’ time” if he would remain as leader if he went backwards but said the signs for this election were encouraging.

“We’re a week away from people starting to vote, and my focus at the moment is just campaigning to ensure that our three amazing members of parliament are returned and that we grow across the country,” Bandt said.

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