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Dickson in the 2025 Australian federal election

An election in the Queensland electorate of Dickson took place on 3 May 2025 as part of the 2025 Australian federal election. Incumbent Liberal National Party (LNP) MP Peter Dutton, who was also serving as the leader of the opposition and the leader of the Liberal Party, stood for re-election against eight candidates.

In what several media outlets described as a "stunning" result, Dutton lost his seat to Australian Labor Party (ALP) candidate Ali France after a 7.7% two-party-preferred vote swing. It was the first time that a federal opposition leader had been defeated in their own seat.

Background

Peter Dutton was elected as the member for Dickson in 2001 after defeating sitting Labor MP Cheryl Kernot. He was re-elected in 2004 with a positive swing, but came close to losing his seat in 2007, retaining it with a two-party-preferred (TPP) vote of 50.1% against Labor.

At the 2019 federal election, Labor preselected former journalist and para-athlete Ali France as its candidate. Dutton was re-elected with a 2.95% TPP swing after a stronger-than-expected showing for the LNP across Queensland. In 2022, France contested Dickson again, with Dutton re-elected despite a 1.7% TPP swing.

Candidates

Candidates are listed in the order they appeared on the ballot.

Liberal National

Dutton was seeking a ninth term as the member for Dickson. He became leader of the opposition on 30 May 2022 after the resignation of former prime minister Scott Morrison.

Labor

France was announced as Labor's candidate on 11 July 2024, holding a press conference with prime minister Anthony Albanese the following day.

Independent

Environmental consultant Ellie Smith announced her candidacy on 27 January 2025. She was endorsed by Climate 200, which supported 35 "teal independent" candidates at the 2025 federal election.

Greens

On 23 December 2024, environmental scientist and para-athlete Vinnie Batten was announced as the Greens' candidate. He contested the seat in 2022.

Campaign

Albanese visited Dickson on the first day of the election campaign. According to The Guardian Australia, Labor nonetheless did not initially consider the seat a priority, until they were alerted of polling by Climate 200, an organisation supporting independent candidate Ellie Smith. After Labor's own polling found the seat too close to call, they devoted more resources to it.

On 18 April 2025, journalist Karen Middleton reported that the Liberals "[weren't] concerned" about the possibility of losing Dickson. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) election analyst Casey Briggs listed Dickson as one of six "potential wildcard" electorates.

Endorsements

Results

Opinion polling

See also

Notes

References