Independent candidate Kate Hulett has refocused her campaign to a federal parliament stint, after narrowly missing the seat of Fremantle in the state election.
Ms Hulett, a businesswoman and photographer, today announced she would be running for the federal seat of Fremantle, a safe Labor seat held by Josh Wilson since 2016.
It comes after her candidacy in the Western Australian election against incumbent Fremantle MP Simone McGurk.
Ms McGurk was at risk of losing the Fremantle seat to Ms Hulett, with votes for the latter marginally ahead of the longstanding Labor minister in the preliminary vote counting.
However, the state seat was called for Ms McGurk a week after the election, with votes for Labor rolling in during the final counting of the election.
Despite the loss, Ms Hulett achieved a 26.4 per cent swing against Labor in the state election, and has set her sights for a national political stint.
“I have had literally hundreds of people contact me in recent days asking me to maintain this extraordinary momentum to keep challenging the major parties and provide proper representation for Fremantle in government,” Ms Hulett said.
“What the community is telling me is no surprise.
"They feel that both major parties are completely ineffective and out of step with them on the important issues impacting us all – like Aukus, gas exports, housing, the cost of living, taking care of our city – and as a community, we are demanding an alternative.
"On all levels, we feel misrepresented and uninspired by the two major parties. People feel unheard, disconnected and ignored, but my campaign has shown how we can make the government pay attention to us."
Ms Hulett will keep her pre-existing campaign materials but plans to rapidly scale it up to expand across the federal electorate, which covers Bibra Lake, Cockburn and Jandakot.
“Fremantle recently made it crystal clear how much it cares about the environment and our kids’ futures, and that means no nuclear and no new gas; both terrible deals that rip us off," she said.
"The government is way out of step with the community. Just this week, Albanese and Dutton are teaming up in Canberra to gut more nature protections to benefit big corporations.
“We have already sent the WA government a message they won’t forget, and now Fremantle will make its voice heard across Australia. The energy our campaign has generated so far is extraordinary and we are just getting started.
Ms Hulett described her state campaign as “groundbreaking” and having turned Fremantle into a battleground.
“We were up against an unbelievable - though sadly unsurprising - preference deal between the major parties that saw the Liberals funnel their preferences to Labor, which makes it all the more amazing that a massive swing against Labor in Fremantle carried our community campaign to the brink of victory," she said.
“The verdict from the Fremantle community was resounding."
Climate 200 founder Simon Holmes à Court has backed Ms Hulett’s state election campaign, which has focused on climate change.
Labor's federal incumbent Mr Wilson, who is also the assistant minister for climate change and energy, will be seeking re-election.
“People know me as someone who stands up and delivers results, including on issues that matter to Fremantle like ocean protection, Australian manufacturing from shipbuilding to film-making, and of course the sensible transition out of the live sheep trade," he said.
“This is going to be a close election at which people in Fremantle and Cockburn will choose between a Labor government that has maintained a strong economy in tough times while creating a cleaner and cheaper energy future, or a Coalition government whose plans are to go nuclear by wrecking the budget and cutting services to pay for it.”
