An election in the Queensland electorate of Dickson took place on 3 May 2025 as part of the 2025 Australian federal election. Incumbent Liberal National Party (LNP) MP Peter Dutton, who was also serving as the leader of the opposition and the leader of the Liberal Party, stood for re-election against eight candidates.

In what several media outlets described as a "stunning" result, Dutton lost his seat to Australian Labor Party (ALP) candidate Ali France after a 7.7% two-party-preferred vote swing. It was the first time that a federal opposition leader had been defeated in their own seat.

Background

Peter Dutton was elected as the member for Dickson in 2001 after defeating sitting Labor MP Cheryl Kernot. He was re-elected in 2004 with a positive swing, but came close to losing his seat in 2007, retaining it with a two-party-preferred (TPP) vote of 50.1% against Labor.

At the 2019 federal election, Labor preselected former journalist and para-athlete Ali France as its candidate. Dutton was re-elected with a 2.95% TPP swing after a stronger-than-expected showing for the LNP across Queensland. In 2022, France contested Dickson again, with Dutton re-elected despite a 1.7% TPP swing.

Candidates Candidates are listed in the order they appeared on the ballot.

Party Candidate Background  Suniti Hewett Candidate for Morayfield at the 2024 state election  Ali France Candidate for Dickson in 2019 and 2022  Vinnie Batten Candidate for Dickson in 2022  Joel Stevenson Maintenance industrial electrician  Peter Dutton Member for Dickson since 2001  Michael Jessop Businessman  Ellie Smith Environmental consultant  David Zaloudek Cannabis activist  Maureen Brohman Primary school teacher

Liberal National Dutton was seeking a ninth term as the member for Dickson. He became leader of the opposition on 30 May 2022 after the resignation of former prime minister Scott Morrison.

Labor France was announced as Labor's candidate on 11 July 2024, holding a press conference with prime minister Anthony Albanese the following day.

Independent Environmental consultant Ellie Smith announced her candidacy on 27 January 2025. She was endorsed by Climate 200, which supported 35 "teal independent" candidates at the 2025 federal election.

Greens On 23 December 2024, environmental scientist and para-athlete Vinnie Batten was announced as the Greens' candidate. He contested the seat in 2022.

Campaign Albanese visited Dickson on the first day of the election campaign. According to Guardian Australia, Labor nonetheless did not initially consider the seat a priority, until they were alerted of polling by Climate 200, an organisation supporting independent candidate Ellie Smith. After Labor's own polling found the seat too close to call, they devoted more resources to it.

On 18 April 2025, journalist Karen Middleton reported that the Liberals "[weren't] concerned" about the possibility of losing Dickson. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) election analyst Casey Briggs listed Dickson as one of six "potential wildcard" electorates.

Endorsements

How-to-vote cards Labor's Ali France preferenced the Greens second, the LNP's Dutton sixth, and One Nation last. Dutton preferenced One Nation third, above Labor at seventh, and the Greens last at ninth.

Ellie Smith ran an open ticket, as many other "teal independents" did during the election; recommending voters preference her first with no further directions for preferencing other candidates. Candidate How-to-vote cards (read column top down) FFP ALP GRN ONP LNP TOP LCP AJP  Suniti Hewett (FFP) 7 7 3 2 2 7  Ali France (ALP) 6 5 7 7 6 5 2  Vinnie Batten (GRN) 2 8 4 4  Joel Stevenson (ONP) 2 3 3 8 8  Peter Dutton (LNP) 4 6 6 4 6 6  Michael Jessop (TOP) 3 8 8 2 8 7   Ellie Smith (IND) 5 5 4 8 6 7 3 5  David Zaloudek (LCP) 7 4 3 5 5 4 3  Maureen Brohman (AJP) 8 3 2 6 4 5 2

Results

Opinion polling

Aftermath On election night, Dutton conceded defeat to France and resigned as Leader of the Opposition. The result marked the first time in Australian political history that a federal Opposition Leader lost their seat at an election. Dutton's loss in Dickson was largely attributed to the federal Coalition's poor election campaign, Dutton's leadership style, and his absence from the electorate in the lead up to Cyclone Alfred.

On 13 May 2025, Sussan Ley won the Liberal Party leadership election the following week, succeeding Dutton as Opposition Leader.

See also Results of the 2025 Australian federal election in Queensland Electoral results for the Division of Dickson

Notes

References