Malcolm Turnbull is due for a beer at the Beach Hotel in Burnie on Thursday night. But the punters there don't much care for the Prime Minister. There's only one name on their lips: Craig Garland.

The 54-year-old fisherman from nearby Wynyard has come out of nowhere to emerge as the third force in this crucial federal byelection in Braddon. At the March state election, he won 2000 primary votes - more than any other minor party candidate, including the Jacqui Lambie Network. And that was after an $800 campaign starting two weeks before polling day.

This time, observers say Mr Garland could net 10 per cent of the vote in the July 28 poll. And that makes him a potential kingmaker in a byelection which is genuinely down to the wire.

"Everyone around here knows me," says fisherman Craig Garland, a candidate in the Braddon byelection. Credit:Sarah Rhodes

When the former fish-and-chip shop owner meets Fairfax Media on a ferociously windy Wednesday, he doesn't mince his words about the mainstream politicians he believes have let down Tasmania's north-west.