Labor certainly thinks so. It has high hopes of claiming two big Coalition scalps in Queensland: Mr Christensen in Dawson and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton in his outer suburban Brisbane seat of Dickson. George Christensen campaigning in the Queensland seat of Dawson. Credit:Facebook "They're very much in play. They're clearly in our target seats list," a senior Queensland Labor figure told Fairfax Media. "They're two candidates that are both divisive in their electorates." Mr Dutton and Mr Christensen, widely despised by the political left, hold their seats by relatively comfortable margins of 6.7 per cent and 7.6 per cent respectively. But Labor strategists believe the two men are on the nose locally. Labor claimed to have third party polling showing Mr Dutton down to a slim 51-49 two party preferred margin in Dickson, but would not provide the data.

The party has also been circling the seat of Dawson, dispatching the likes of Bill Shorten, Kate Ellis and Kim Carr to boost their candidate Frank Gilbert's fortunes. Mr Shorten spent much of the first week of the campaign in north Queensland. Peter Dutton at the official sod turning for a new men's shed in his electorate. Credit:Facebook "We made a point of going [to Dawson] when we were up there last - and it wasn't just to play with George Christensen's mind," another senior Labor source said. What Labor strategists see in Dawson and Dickson mirrors what they believe is happening around regional Queensland and suburban Brisbane: disaffection with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, and lingering resentment over the dumping of his predecessor Tony Abbott. They also believe the Coalition is getting nervous, evidenced by an increasingly loud scare campaign about refugees and border protection.

"There are places where unemployment is rising, the economy's not doing too well, and they're pretty cranky with the Turnbull government," the Queensland strategist told Fairfax Media. They haven't adjusted to having a Point Piper millionaire as prime minister "Working class punters in Mackay liked Abbott. He's a straight talker, not a spiv. They haven't adjusted to having a Point Piper millionaire as prime minister." Coalition figures privately rubbish Labor's ambitions, pointing to a recent Fairfax-Ipsos poll which put the government ahead 58-42 in Queensland. It was by far the Coalition's strongest state. Even with a 5.7 per cent margin of error, Labor would be hard-pressed to pick up many Queensland seats if those results were reproduced on polling day.