Independent surprise-packet Sandy Bolton is ready to tap into the "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" her likely election upset win in Noosa is about to provide.
The 53-year-old mother-of-three, and grandmother to two, could help Labor rule in a minority government with voting still going down to the wire in numerous electorates.
The former Noosa councillor who also ran for mayor at last year's local government election, looms as the biggest shock winner in this weekend's Queensland election.
And she's promised to milk it for all it's worth for her "frustrated" and fed-up Sunshine Coast community.
Not aligned to any party, Ms Bolton - who is set to unseat the LNP's Glen Elmes - said she would work with "whoever will get the job done for Noosa".
She was excited at the prospect of being in a hung parliament to do that.
"It might be a once in a lifetime opportunity and that was very specific as to the reason that I went in," Ms Bolton told AAP.
"I'm very Noosa-centric."
Raised in Sydney, but a Queenslander for the past 25 years, Ms Bolton also ran a cattle station in her 20s when "she swapped my high heels for boots and a Stetson".
The the NDIS project manager for disability service Sunshine Butterflies, who gained 32 per cent of the primary vote, was helped by her election rivals all preferencing her second or third in their how-to-vote cards.
Noosa Mayor Bob Abbott, who she lost to last year, even campaigned on her behalf, which highlighted her desire for a "collective vision" for a community angered by government inefficiencies.
"It's everything I've always believed in and it's the culture I tried to create," she said, admitting she wasn't confident of victory before the election.
"I was determined. I was determined because I saw that I have a frustrated community that works extremely hard to deliver outcomes."
