An independent candidate hopes to make election history by toppling a federal opposition leader for the first time.
An enormous task lies ahead for Ellie Smith before the federal election on May 3.
But she is backing herself against “divisive” coalition leader Peter Dutton in the southeast Queensland seat of Dickson.
“This is our chance… to make history in Australia and in Dickson,” Ms Smith told AAP.
“It’s a big task to unseat a sitting opposition leader.
“But his focus is on becoming prime minister and our focus is on having a local MP that’s going to represent our local community.”
Mr Dutton has held the seat since November 2001, denying Labor’s Ali France in the previous two federal elections.
“Our MP is very divisive and he picks issues to talk about that might get him a headline,” Ms Smith said of Mr Dutton.
“Those aren’t necessarily the things that people talk to me about when I go out door knocking and talking to them about what motivates them and what they’re facing.”
The opposition leader enjoyed 42.1 per cent of first preference votes at the 2022 federal election after holding 45.93 per cent in 2019.
However, the Liberal National Party held a 1.7 per cent margin in Dickson after the 2022 poll, making it the tightest seat in Queensland.
The most recent polling from YouGov indicates the coalition will retain Dickson under the two-party preferred vote 52.5 per cent to Labor’s 47.5 per cent.
The coalition’s primary vote is projected to be 39.7 per cent compared to Labor’s 28.8 per cent, with independents at 7.8 per cent.
But YouGov’s Paul Smith claimed Labor may be a chance of winning Dickson, saying: “We’re living in very volatile times”.
“We’re in an election where there are more seats in play than any other election in years gone by.”
Ms Smith ruled out any preference deals, saying she would be “genuinely independent”.
The former environmental consultant has called the Dickson electorate home for the past eight years, thrusting herself into the independent candidacy in 2024.
“Dickson is a cross-section of broader Australia and I think it shows in the polls that his (Mr Dutton’s) popularity goes up and down,” she said.
“What I love about Dickson is that any issue that you face in Australian politics, you’ll see a microcosm of it here.”
Cost of living, transport and housing are the big-ticket issues for the electorate that includes residents across the socio-economic spectrum, Ms Smith said.
“Our community is so strong and motivated and it’s just amazing how many people have come out of the woodwork to volunteer almost every day, if not every week, to make this happen,” she said.
“I’m doing it for them.”