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Many Australians living with disability are likely to be celebrating the historic win of Labor’s Ali France, 49, as the newly elected candidate of Dickson in Queensland.
It is the first time in Australian political history that a sitting opposition leader has lost their seat in parliament.
Ms France not only defeated former opposition leader Peter Dutton for the seat of Dickson, which he held for 24 years - she is also the fourth challenger since Federation to unseat a major-party leader in their own electorate.
The former journalist, mother of two and para-athlete has faced several hurdles in the years leading up to her quest for election success. In 2011, she was involved in a car accident in which she was pinned against the front of another vehicle and had to have her left leg amputated from above the knee.
In the years following, the disability advocate lost both her former husband, Clive, and eldest son, Henry, to cancer within months of each other.
In her acceptance speech, France said she wanted to use her lived experience of disability to make meaningful, vital change in the very heart of Australian politics.
For the disability community, this is a really significant event. I hope that more people with a disability follow.
Ali France
This was Ms France’s third attempt for the Queensland electorate. She previously contested the seat in 2019 and 2022.
The Dickson candidate previously campaigned for reduced health care costs and improving disability support within the NDIS and for the wider community.
As part of the 2021 election campaign, Mr Dutton drew criticism for remarking that his opponent was using her disability as an excuse for not living in the electorate of Dickson. Ms France had been living in the neighbouring electorate and said she was unable to find a wheelchair accessible home in Dickson.
Upon accepting his defeat, the former leader of the Liberal party congratulated his successor, stating that her late son would be “proud” of her achievement.
“She’ll do a good job as a local member for Dickson and I wish her all the very best,” Mr Dutton said.
Speaking on ABC’s Radio National, France said she hopes sharing her perspectives on life will be viewed as a positive in Parliament.
As I go through this new part of my life, I think it brings a perspective to the Parliament. Not just the perspective of a really hard health journey, but also the perspective of somebody with a disability. I struggled for years to be able to walk, to get back to work…I'm hopeful that perspective brings about some change in the way we think about those issues.