Aboriginal members of Federal Parliament have been few and far between, and there's never been one from the Labor Party.
That will most likely change this election, with Northern Territory Senate candidate Nova Peris expected to win a seat.
But there could be a double win for Labor, if the only Aboriginal candidate for the Lower House is elected to the far-north Queensland electorate of Leichhardt.
Billy Gordon is a first-time candidate, and Leichhardt is a must-win seat for Labor if they hope to form a majority government.
It's held by the Liberal National Party with a margin of 4.6 per cent.
Gordon, a former cane cutter, builder, barman and army reservist, is hoping to win over voters in one of Australia's largest and most diverse electorates.
It stretches from the tourist city of Cairns to the mining town of Weipa, north through pastoral and Aboriginal communities of Cape York to the Torres Strait on the international border with Papua New Guinea.
"My father said to me a long time ago, why did you join the Titanic after it hit the iceberg… but I said to him, 'dad, you know we always stood up for what we believed in, and being the type of people we are, being born black in this world, you're born behind the eight-ball'* from the get go, so it was natural that I gravitated towards the Labor party and the union movement."
Leichhardt is one of Australia's largest and most diverse electorates.
It stretches from the tourist city of Cairns, north through pastoral and Aboriginal communities of Cape York to the mining town of Weipa, and up to the Torres Strait on the international border with Papua New Guinea.
Public service provision, like health and education, and northern economic development are hot topics both parties support, in their own way.
There are also many unique issues.
"World heritage listing is a very important issue that needs to be talked about, welfare reform is of considerable interest in Cape York, and in the Torres Strait, sea walls and tuberculosis is a really important issue, a really sensitive issue, and now we're looking at, people have concerns up there about the government's PNG solution when it comes to dealing with asylum seekers."
They are issues the Opposition has used to make life difficult at times in the far-north for the Labor federal government.
Warren Entsch holds Leichhardt for the Liberal National Party.
"In Opposition it's been very, very frustrating, but there's been a number of things we've achieved, even in opposition.
Warren Entsch won Leichhardt twice for the Howard government and retired in 2007, before making a comeback at the last election to take it from Labor.
"For a start, I embarrassed the government into committing for the sea walls in the Torres Strait, the money's there, it's just a matter of spending it. I've been very very prominent, as you'd be aware, of raising issue on the threat from tuberculosis in the Western Province of PNG and flowing down into Australia. at last we're seeing some traction there and I've been raising concerns about the effectiveness of AusAid funding. I established the Cairns business and sporting group, we've got a very comprehensive plan on how we're going to develop a new industry in this city, which is for sports training and conditioning in tropical conditions."
Bitterly debated is the proposed Cape York World Heritage listing
"Blanket World Heritage listing, as far as I'm concerned is out the window. I have no issue with partial listing, there are certainly sites there, that would justify that, but using blanket listing as a tool, to rob landholders of any opportunity of a future economic, economics, is out the window."
Billy Gordon is a fan of listing.
"I think it's really really important. What this potentially does is puts in place or shines a lot of light on our role in protecting and conserving huge parts of Cape York for future generations but also try to find that balance with economic development as well, which I think is really, really important."
Much has been made by the Opposition of a very small number of asylum seekers arriving in the Torres Strait from Papua New Guinea.
Warren Entsch believes the problem could get much worse.
"At the moment it's a trickle but it's no different to what was happening in Christmas Island in 2008, it was a policy change that Kevin Rudd did that caused that massive problem in Christmas Island that we're still dealing with at the moment, and interestingly enough in 2013, it's a policy change that Kevin Rudd has made in relation to treatment in PNG, that has the potential should it be acted upon, to do to the Torres Strait and further south into Cairns as what has happened in Christmas Island."
But Billy Gordon thinks the threat is being overstated.
"I think it is a bit about politicking. There is a federal election around the corner. The Rudd government has come up with an asylum seeker policy that involves centrally PNG and Manus Island and we're seeing a lot of fear mongering up there. We haven't seen an incredible spike in the number of asylum seekers through to the Torres Strait, we're actually at a par to previous years."
For both major parties, Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander affairs in the region are often vexed.
One issue that has caused much angst in the remote Aboriginal communities is the radical, social engineering, welfare reform trial.
First introduced in four communities by the conservative Howard government, other Aboriginal communities now fear they will be next.
Warren Entsch was the MP when it began.
"Impose something right across the whole broad spectrum of the communities, without consultation, without the support of the communities, is something I would vehemently oppose. I've opposed it in opposition, I will oppose it in government."
Billy Gordon says Labor will decide when the trial ends, which could still be several years away.
"We have no intention at the moment to roll welfare reform out through the entire Cape York. I think we need to follow through on this trial first and make sure what it teaches us, what we learn from it."
Palmer United Party also has an Aboriginal candidate standing in Leichhardt, Bruce Gibson.
He's a vocal critic of the major parties and welfare reform.
"First of all they haven't consulted with the people of Cape York, they have also built a regime that they have put money into that never gets to the ground, there's also been an attitude of 'we know what's good for you'. These government's don't know what's good for us, we know what the problems are, it's been placed upon us."
About 17 per cent of Leichhardt's electorate is indigenous.
It used to be considered a given that they would vote Labor.
That has recently changed.
For Billy Gordon, as Labor's only Aboriginal candidate for the lower house in the whole country, there is a weight of expectation.
"It's a difficult privilege. I do applaud the fact that in this election we have a whole range of indigenous people running for different parties, and I think that's a healthy thing for this county. It's a healthy thing for democracy, it's great recognition that there's a black right, a black centre and a black left, you know I think that's really important to understand. I get a sense of history and occasion, but also with that comes tremendous obligation and responsibility."
There have been three Aboriginal MPs in federal parliament since federation.
Billy Gordon could be the first to represent Labor in that select group, but he rejects race as the reason why he was preselected.
"I've gotten to this point with a lot of hard work and involvement with the party. And I do know there's always an element in the community out there that says he's a blackfella for black issues for black people, but at the end of the day I've a position on insurance, I've a position on superannuation, health, housing, education, these are broad policy areas that cut across all races."
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