Max Chandler-Mather, once recognized as a top influential figure in Australia and a fierce opponent to Anthony Albanese, now seems to have transitioned into a behind-the-scenes role.

After narrowly losing to Labor’s Renee Coffey in Griffith last May, Chandler-Mather qualified for a resettlement package of up to $105,625, offered to MPs who unexpectedly leave Parliament.

But with a young family and soaring rents in Brisbane, that money is unlikely to last long if he decided to take it.

Chandler-Mather has previously admitted he doesn’t own a home despite earning more than $233,660 a year while in Parliament. 

He also donated $50,000 of his salary to fund free school meals in his electorate.

‘When I was elected, it was by many low-income renters, and I felt it was inappropriate not to dedicate a substantial part of my salary to those with low incomes,’ he shared.

‘Because of sacrificing that money and being on a single income, and living in an area where median house prices are extremely high, purchasing a home there is challenging.’

So what’s next for the 32-year-old who once styled himself as the future of the Greens?

With his payout unlikely to stretch far, some are wondering if he has or is  eyeing a taxpayer-funded political staffing job to help pay the bills. 

Senior advisers can earn as much as MPs.

Insiders hint that the Greens are eagerly looking for ‘the next Max’ with Chandler-Mather playing a covert role in the process, quietly advising party members from behind the curtains.

But how he’s now earning a living doing that – and if he is still being paid for this role remains unclear. 

When contacted for comment, Chandler-Mather snapped that he didn’t have to tell Daily Mail anything, confirming he hasn’t lost his trademark edge.

Chandler-Mather, however, refuted claims that he was mentoring young Greens-oriented members at the University of Queensland Union, where his own political path had started when he was a committed Labor supporter.

After the Queensland Greens’ 2022 ‘Greenslide’ delivered three federal seats, the party has since struggled across all levels of government, losing three seats at the 2025 election, including Melbourne, once held by former leader Adam Bandt.

Whether Chandler-Mather can help spark a revival remains to be seen.

The Prime Minister regularly clashed with Chandler-Mather, with both men infamously trading barbs in a heated clash on the floor of the House of Representatives two years ago.

Chandler-Mather still plays on Albanese’s mind because the PM cracked a gag at his expense at the Midwinter Ball.

‘This election, we farewelled my favourite Green,’ Albanese told the audience, as a picture of Max Chandler-Mather flashed on the screen.

‘Not that Green,’ the PM said, ‘This Green,’ he added as a picture of the ABC’s now-retired chief election analyst Antony Green appeared.

Chandler-Mather returned fire, saying ‘how sad for him’. 

‘If the Prime Minister keeps treating everyday working people like dirt, while wining and dining with CEOs and lobbyists and lining the pockets of big corporations and billionaires with tax handouts and loopholes, I’ll be the least of his concerns,’ Chandler-Mather told the Daily Mail. 

‘Personally I’ve been enjoying life outside parliament, carefully thinking how best to continue to fight on behalf of the millions of everyday people screwed over by this Labor government. 

‘I’m a bit surprised the Prime Minister remains so fixated on me, because I haven’t really thought about him at all.’

While in parliament, Chandler-Mather earned the nickname of ‘Albo’s arch-nemesis’ due to his clashes with the PM over housing policy. 

In 2023, tensions came to a head during a debate over the $10billion Housing Australia Future Fund.

As Albanese was leaving the House of Representatives chamber, he reportedly turned back and directed an angry remark to Chandler-Mather, saying: ‘You’re a joke, mate.’

Last year, Chandler-Mather also questioned why the Prime Minister was able to rake in an extra $115,000 a year in rental income while he lives rent-free at The Lodge and Kirribilli House during a housing crisis.

These confrontations led many young Australians to see Chandler-Mather as a strong voice representing young people’s concerns about the housing crisis.

The pair also traded words shortly after Chandler-Mather was ousted in May, with the Greens firebrand telling Triple J Hack that the PM had often directed ‘personal abuse’ at him in the House.

‘The Prime Minister spent a lot of time in my electorate attacking me, the property industry, the mining industry, all coming after us,’ Chandler-Mather said.

‘We would get up (in the House) and say ‘all we want is for the government to do something for the one-third of the country that rents’ and I had the Prime Minister come up to me in the Chamber and call me a ‘joke’ and personally abuse me.’

But Albanese has said the former MP needed to look at his own behaviour.

‘He should have a good look at the way that he asks questions in the parliament,’ the Prime Minister told ABC’s 7.30 afterwards.

‘Maybe what he needs is a mirror and a reflection on why he’s no longer in parliament.

‘This is a guy who stood before signs at a CFMEU rally in Brisbane describing me as a Nazi.

‘I think it’s a bit rich for him of all people…who has been rejected by his own electorate after just one term.’