Jonathan Sriranganathan ( ; Sri) is an Australian activist and politician. He was the first ever

Queensland Greens The Queensland Greens is a Green party in Queensland, Australia, and a state member of the Australian Greens. The party is currently represented in all three levels of government, by Larissa Waters and Penny Allman-Payne in the federal Senate; ...

councillor, representing

The Gabba Ward The Gabba Ward is a Brisbane City Council ward covering Woolloongabba, Dutton Park, East Brisbane, Highgate Hill, Kangaroo Point, South Brisbane and West End. Greens candidate Jonathan Sriranganathan Jonathan Sriranganathan ( ; Sri) i ...

on the

Brisbane City Council Brisbane City Council (BCC) is the democratic executive local government authority for the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the state of Queensland, Australia. The largest City Council in Australia by population and area, BCC's jurisd ...

from 2016 to 2023.

Early life and education

Sriranganathan has a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and Bachelor of Arts with majors in Journalism and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies from The

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

. He has previously worked at a corporate law firm. Prior to being elected he was a musician and beat poet.

Political career

State politics

Sriranganathan stood as the Greens candidate for

South Brisbane South Brisbane is an inner southern Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , South Brisbane had a population of 7,196 people. Geography The suburb is on the southern bank of the Brisba ...

at the

2015 Queensland state election The 2015 Queensland state election was held on 31 January 2015 to elect all 89 members of the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The centre-right Liberal National Party (LNP), led by Premier Campbell Newman, attempted to win a s ...

, where he received 21.8% of the primary vote. He was defeated by former Labor MP

Jackie Trad Jacklyn Anne Trad (born 25 April 1972) is a former Australian politician. She was Deputy Premier of Queensland from 2015 to 2020, Treasurer of Queensland from 2017 to 2020 and represented the Electoral district of South Brisbane for the Labor ...

, and placed third after the Liberal National Party.

Local politics

Sriranganathan stood as a candidate for The Gabba Ward at the 2016 Brisbane City Council election, held on 19 March, where he received 31.7% of the primary vote. Preferences from the

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

candidate, Nicole Lessio, gave Sriranganathan 55% of the

two-party-preferred vote In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP ...

, and he declared victory on 23 March after receiving a concession call from Lessio. He was sworn in on 12 April 2016, becoming the first Greens councillor anywhere in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, and the first of Sri Lankan

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

heritage. In 2016, Sriranganathan organised human barricades and protests against the controversial West Village development in West End. The development still went ahead but significant changes were made to the design. In 2018, Sriranganathan was accused of harassing and stalking a local real estate agent. Official investigations were launched into the complaint and the Brisbane City Council opted not to pursue misconduct charges. In October 2019, Sriranganathan was fined $1,300 for "inappropriate conduct" by the Councillor Conduct Review Panel, after "posing as a concerned resident in a hoax voicemail" left for state MP Jennifer Howard. Sriranganathan stood as a candidate for The Gabba Ward at the 2020 Brisbane City Council election, held on 28 March, where he received 45.6% of the primary vote, an increase of 13.9% from the previous election. On 26 March 2023, he announced his resignation as councillor, with the seat set to be filled by fellow Greens member Trina Massey. His last official day as councillor was 21 April. On 16 August 2023, he announced he would be The Greens' candidate for mayor in the 2024 Brisbane City Council election.

Beliefs

Sriranganathan has campaigned for a

right to the city The right to the city is an idea and a slogan first proposed by Henri Lefebvre in his 1968 book . This idea has been taken up more recently by social movements, thinkers, and certain progressive local authorities as a call to action to reclaim th ...

, and has argued that the function of cities should be centred around democratic control rather than

capital accumulation Capital accumulation is the dynamic that motivates the pursuit of profit, involving the investment of money or any financial asset with the goal of increasing the initial monetary value of said asset as a financial return whether in the form o ...

. He is supportive of "public disobedience" as a valid form of political action and has posted information to assist followers in avoiding being fined. He has criticised the behaviour of the Queensland Police Service, describing them as a "violent and racist" institution.

Personal life

Sriranganathan lives on a houseboat moored in the Brisbane River with his partner, stating his purpose for this as wanting to donate half of his $157,782 salary. He is a saxophonist and vocalist with Brisbane band The Mouldy Lovers. He is known for his

spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

performances. While his father's full surname is Sriranganathan, Jonathan's name was listed as "Jonathan Sri" on his birth certificate. He was known as Sri until August 2022, when he took his father's full last name in order to "connect... more deeply with different components of isidentity."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sriranganathan, Jonathan Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Politicians from Brisbane Musicians from Brisbane Australian Greens politicians Australian people of Sri Lankan Tamil descent Queensland local councillors Extinction Rebellion