Labor has claimed a historic victory by unseating Opposition leader Peter Dutton as the party sweeps to victory with a massive swing across the country.
Former journalist Ali France toppled Mr Dutton in his long-held seat of Dickson, in Brisbane’s west, with the Opposition leader conceding defeat in a gracious phone call at about 9.30pm.
‘She has been successful in Dickson tonight – she lost her son Henry which is a tragic circumstance no parent should ever go through. Her son would be incredibly proud of her tonight,’ he said.
Mr Dutton has held the seat of Dickson for almost a quarter of a century since beating Cheryl Kernot in 2001.
The one-time defence minister has been watching the live election count from Liberal Party headquarters at the W Hotel in Brisbane’s inner-city, surrounded by family including his wife, Kirilly.
He was joined by former Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott shortly before 9pm as the reality of the lose began to sink in.
It is the third time Ms France has run against Mr Dutton.
While she failed to beat him in the 2019 and 2022 election, she turned Dickson into the sunshine state’s most marginal conservative seat at the last poll, with just 3,360 votes separating her from victory.
The 49-year-old single mother had her leg amputated after saving her newborn son , Zac, during a car accident in 2011.
He was by her side on Saturday as she cast her vote a polling booth in the Brisbane suburb of Albany Creek.
Absent though was France’s other son, and Zac’s older brother, Henry, who tragically died from leukaemia at the Royal Brisbane Hospital little more than a year ago.
Henry was completing his HSC when he was diagnosed with the disease in November 2022, and spent the majority of the following 18 months in hospital.
‘Henry did everything he was supposed to do to be a survivor, to stay with us,’ Ms France revealed on social media last March
‘Our health professionals did everything they could, but all the love & medicine in the world wasn’t enough.’
Ms France said each day since she lost her son had felt like a year.
‘He was loud (in the best way), so very funny, full of hope & so loving. I ache for him to tell me “love you Mum” again,’ she said.
‘He watched his friends go to schoolies, to university and jobs from his hospital bed, cheering them on. He just accepted what was in front of him – he was the very definition of courageous.’
Ms France added her son was sports-mad, loving everything from cricket to soccer to NRL.
‘His glass was always overflowing with life & energy. He was a loyal friend, he always said sorry, he had an opinion on everything, he never stopped laughing & he moved at great speed & enthusiasm which sometimes got him into trouble,’ she said.
Ms France also lost her ex-husband Clive to cancer in September, 2023.
Henry had been battling cancer at the same time and was transported by ambulance to say goodbye to his father.
‘We were all broken. He [Clive] held on long enough for Henry to recover sufficiently to spend more time with his Dad, in another hospital,’ Ms France said.
Ms France said Zac had been her saving grace as she struggled to deal with losing both her husband and a son in the span of six months.
‘Right now it’s raw, brutal devastation but I trust we will shift to a space where we focus more on honouring Henry,’ she said.
‘I would do anything for more time with my Henry.’
During the crash that resulted in her losing her leg in May 2011, Ms France had been waiting for a lift at the shops in Brisbane’s High Point Plaza when an out of control car slammed into her.
The elderly man behind the wheel smashed into the mother, who was pushing her son in a stroller at the time, pinning her against another car.
Milliseconds before the car hit her, she tried to push her son Zac, who was in the stroller, out of harm’s way.
The collision severed an artery in her left leg which led to the loss of the limb, but her own injuries were not what haunted her in the days and weeks after the crash.
‘Nobody realises that it wasn’t so much that I lost my leg, it was my worst fear of nearly losing a child that was the biggest issue for me,’ she told the Courier-Mail in 2018.
‘What a lot of people don’t know is, while I tried to push Zac out of the way, I didn’t succeed and he ended up under the car. He was very, very lucky.’
A mother carrying her own newborn came upon the chaos moments after the collision, placing her own baby on the ground as she reached under the car and pulled Zac to safety.
Other than a deep burn to one of his legs from one of the car’s tyres, he was largely unhurt.
Two men passing by put the car – whose driver was still pressing down the on the accelerator – into neutral and physically heaved the vehicle off Ms France.
She then began bleeding out, and was only saved by the quick-thinking men who torniqueted her leg with one of their shirts.
Labor minister Tanya Plibersek paid tribute to Ms France’s courage and determination while celebrating her success on Saturday night.
‘Ali France, who is our our candidate for Dickson, we hope the next member for Dickson, she is a knockout,’ Ms Plibersek said.
‘This is her third time running, I think a lot of people know her background.
‘She was in a terrible car accident, she lost her leg, she been an athlete… she’s had some personal tragedy.
‘She keeps turning up, she keeps working hard, she’s got a lot of charisma and a lot of grit, and I think if it turns out that Ali France is the next member for Dickson, we will all be delighted because she’ll make a stellar contribution to our parliament.’