Ali France, the Labor candidate who is the first person to unseat an opposition leader at an election, is a disability advocate, former journalist and world champion para-athlete.
She has defeated the Liberal leader, Peter Dutton, at her third effort at the seat of Dickson, in Brisbane’s west.
For the past 24 years, it has been held by Dutton, now the leader of the Liberal party and opposition leader. She is the daughter of former Labor Queensland MP Peter Lawlor.
France lost her eldest son, Henry, to leukaemia last year. She has another son, Zac, who was with her when she was involved in an accident that led to her losing a leg in 2011.
Kallangur Memorial Bowls Club was packed with scores of supporters – including state opposition leader and former premier Steven Miles, a longtime supporter. The raucous crowd cheered as she delivered an acknowledgement of country at the start of her 18 minute victory speech – Dutton, a conservative, had opposed the 2023 referendum on a voice to parliament and described acknowledgments as “overdone” during the campaign.
The mood rapidly shifted as she spoke about her son, Henry, who France said she never stopped thinking about during the race.
Many Labor faithful audibly sobbed or cried out in grief.
“I wish you were here,” she said, through tears.
“He was so insistent that I don’t give up even to care for him. He was looking forward to being a part of this campaign, a part of this celebration and I can tell you Henry you were.
“Every time it felt too hard or too much I thought of you, and your courage and bravery and happiness and positivity to the very end. I carried that courage with me throughout this campaign, and it’s got me here, even though my heart still aches for you thank you for giving me the strength to keep moving forward as you did.”
She told the Guardian on Saturday morning that she started preparing for her third attempt at the electorate months ago. She said the fight was an “uphill battle”, given the high profile of her opponent.
“He’s a massive spender on his campaign, particularly advertising,” she said. “We have never been able to compete with that. But what our campaign has always been about is a huge grassroots game. It’s about door-knocking, it’s about the high visibility. It’s about being at markets.”
France also ran against Dutton in 2019 and 2022, and gradually chipped away at his lead. It became the state’s most marginal conservative electorate at the 2022 election, with just 3,360 votes separating the two.
France had her leg amputated after a car accident in 2011. She was with Zac, then 4, in a shopping centre car park when an 88-year-old driver lost control of his car and pinned her against another car. She managed to push the pram with Zac in it out of the way moments before she was hit. Zac escaped injury but France was seriously injured and had her leg amputated after two surgeries attempting to save it failed.
At the 2019 ballot, Dutton was condemned after criticising France for “using her disability as an excuse for not moving into our electorate”. After the Australian reported France did not live in the electorate of Dickson, France said she had “searched high and low” but had been unable to find a wheelchair-accessible home, and that if elected she would move to the electorate and renovate.
Labor’s biography of France now lists her as a “Moreton Bay local, living in Arana Hills with her son”, in the electorate. The 51-year-old is a single mother.
She was accompanied by Zac when voting at a polling booth in Albany Creek on Saturday.
“I feel positive, really positive [about winning the seat],” France said on Saturday morning.
“It’s been seven years of work for me and the team, and the positive thing this time is that I’ve really gotten to know a lot of people in the electorate. I’ve knocked on so many doors, I’ve had so many conversations. I feel like people really know who I am and what I stand for now.”
Dutton spoke with France on Saturday night to concede the seat and paid tribute to the new member.
“Ali and I have been combatants for a number of elections but she was successful in Dickson tonight, and she will do a good job as a local member. She lost her son Henry in tragic circumstances, and no parent should ever go through that,” he said.
“Equally I said to Ali that her son Henry would be incredibly proud of her tonight and she will do a good job as the local member for Dickson and I wish her all the very best.”
