"No - it hasn't come up," Mr Christensen said when asked if he had apologised to voters. "No one here has raised it with me today. No one has raised it with me on the campaign trail." Mr Christensen has not been to the Philippines since Scott Morrison became Prime Minister and says he no longer needs to because his fiancee is now in Australia. Voters will determine what matters, he says, but all he hears about are "local jobs and attacks on local industries". Gunther Paul isn't fazed by where George Christensen spends his time. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Voters at the Caneland shopping centre on Sunday largely proved Mr Christensen right. Of the 30 people approached, 20 said they did not care about the overseas trips, five said they cared and another five were not familiar with the issue. Not a scientific survey by any means, but a telling indication in central Mackay, where Mr Christensen lost every booth except pre-poll in 2016. He does much better further north, in towns such as Proserpine, Bowen and Ayr.

Even those who don't subscribe to Mr Christensen's politics are unfazed by his absences. "It shows an openness that's not naturally common among conservative people," says Gunther Paul, a 54-year-old occupational health and safety researcher who knows his local MP from church. "He is more likely to engage with other cultures. Everybody travels a lot here." Labor's candidate for Dawson, Belinda Hassan, in her Mackay campaign office. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer But if Mr Christensen - dubbed "the member for Manila" by critics - loses one in six of his supporters, he will be vanquished from office. He holds the seat by a margin of 3.4 per cent - certainly not the tightest in north Queensland, but still too close for comfort. Not surprisingly, Mr Christensen's Labor opponent, Belinda Hassan, thinks the Philippines jaunts are a "real issue" for voters. "Nobody gets 11 or 12 weeks a year annual leave," she says from her campaign office in central Mackay. "I don't think they care where he was or what he was doing or who he was with. I think they care that he wasn't here."

Loading Coalition strategists say Mr Christensen's biggest asset is his brand recognition: he is a larger-than-life character not afraid to speak his mind - and that's attractive to voters. Mr Christensen says he would keep threatening to cross the floor if he believes it's in the best interests of Dawson. "If you want to be well and truly in the political class you just do what you're told," he says. "Local people here expect their member of Parliament - whoever it is - to stand up for their region and if that sometimes means going against the grain of their own political party, then so be it." But Mr Christensen's polarising nature means the gloves are off. Ms Hassan, a funeral director and fifth-generation Mackay local, is not afraid to get personal when it comes to a $3.2 million cut to the Mackay Base Hospital she says is responsible for waiting lists that are "through the roof".