While Labor and the Liberal party fight it out for the seat of Gilmore, independent candidate Kate Dezarnaulds isn’t ruling herself out either.

In sport it’s called the Steven Bradbury. In politics, it’s called the Andrew Wilkie,” said Dezarnaulds.

Wilkie is now one of Australia’s most trusted MPs, but in 2010 he came from third place with just 21% of the vote. We’ve done the maths, and we think we can do the same.”

Polling shows that Fiona Phillips is attracting a primary vote of about 36%, while Andrew Constance is down to 33.5%, from the high of 42% he received at the last election., Dezarnaulds’ campaign thinks that a primary vote just 18% with a strong preference flow could get her over the line.

The campaign says Dezarnaulds leads among undecided voters and if a late surge of voters turns up in these final days for her, she could beat Phillips into the second spot and win on preferences.

It’s pretty clear the country isn’t excited about either Dutton or Albanese — only one in three voters are backing them,” said Dezarnaulds.

That makes this the perfect moment for an underdog Independent to break through — and that’s how we win.”