Longman by-election ‘a preview to federal election’

The Longman by-election is shaping as the prelude to a ferocious general election campaign.

Peter Dutton will face Ali France in the Dickson by-election. Picture: Stuart McEvoy.

The Longman by-election is shaping as the prelude to a ferocious general election campaign in northern Brisbane, with both sides sending high-profile frontbenchers to neighbouring electorates that could make or break Bill Shorten’s bid for power.

The Coalition and Labor are pouring resources into Dickson, held by Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton since 1998, and Petrie, which has gone with the government at every election since 1987, with big regional infrastructure announcements at the state and federal level.

Strategists will study the Longman by-election campaign for indications as to how their opponents will campaign in the general election in Queensland, which has seven of the ­Coalition’s 14 most marginal ­electorates.

Amid pressure on the Coalition over a decline in female representation, all three of these seats will pit a male Liberal veteran against a younger Labor woman.

In Dickson, Mr Dutton will face Ali France, a former journalist and motivational speaker who has been critical of parliament’s hardline stance on asylum-seekers.

In her advocacy for refugees, Ms France has highlighted Iraqi-born surgeon Munjed al-Muderis, who fled by boat to Australia in 1999 and helped her to walk again after a 2011 car crash that led to the amputation of her leg.

Mr Dutton, who won the seat from Labor’s Cheryl Kernot, ­touted his ability to deliver on local projects while keeping “our country safe and our borders secure”.

“I am the only candidate who actually lives in Dickson and have done so for almost 20 years,” he said.

Left-wing activist group GetUp! is also gunning for Mr Dutton, launching a campaign against the “corrosive” minister on June 16.

In Petrie, Liberal MP Luke Howarth’s challenger will be former Queensland Young Labor president Corrine Mulholland, a one-time staffer to federal MP Arch Bevis.

Coalition sources downplayed a Sky News poll showing Liberal candidate Trevor Ruthenberg ahead of Labor’s Susan Lamb in Longman, saying it was rare for governments to win opposition seats at by-elections — the last time was in 1920.