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Allison Anne "Ali" France (pronounced ; née Lawlor; born 13 May 1973) is an Australian politician who has served as the member for Dickson in the House of Representatives since 2025 as a member of the Labor Party (ALP).
France previously contested her seat in 2019 and 2022, both times losing to the Liberal Party's Peter Dutton. She unseated Peter Dutton, the then Leader of the Opposition, on her third attempt in the 2025 Australian federal election, becoming the first Labor MP from Dickson since Cheryl Kernot lost the seat to Dutton in 2001. She became the first challenger to defeat a sitting Opposition Leader in their own seat.
In 2016, France represented Australia in Paracanoe, winning two team gold medals and a silver at the Outrigger Canoe World Sprint Championships.
France has been a critic of offshore detention, noting that the surgeon who inserted her titanium rod prosthetic leg was a former Iraqi refugee who came to Australia by boat. She ran as the Labor candidate for the seat of Dickson in 2019 and 2022, losing both times to Peter Dutton, who was first elected as the MP for Dickson in 2001. She faced Dutton, then Leader of the Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition, for a third time at the 2025 Australian federal election, this time defeating him amid a large swing against the Liberals in metropolitan Australia. On the eighth count, over three-fourths of Green preferences flowed to France, allowing her to defeat Dutton on a two-party swing of 7.7 percent. She needed a swing of only 1.8 percent to take the seat off Dutton. Dickson, Qld, 2025 Tally Room, Australian Electoral Commission. France is the third challenger since Federation to defeat a major-party leader in their own seat, and the first to unseat an Opposition Leader.
In 2011, France and her younger son were at a shopping centre when an elderly man lost control of his car and ran into them. While she pushed her son, who was at the time in his pram out of the way, she was seriously injured and as a result had her leg amputated.
In 2024, her eldest son died of leukaemia. France faced some criticism on social media for talking about her grief and loss during the election campaign. She responded by saying, "Politics is personal, actually ... my whole life is the reason I got into politics. I will never stop talking about him and I don't care whether it causes people to feel discomfort."
Personal life
France and her ex-husband Clive had two sons. The two separated in 2017 and divorce was finalised in 2019. Clive was plagued by health issues for almost a decade and died of cancer in 2023.
See also
Categories: 1973 Births, Living People, Australian Amputees, Australian Labor Party Members Of The Parliament Of Australia, Members Of The Australian House Of Representatives For Dickson, Women Members Of The Australian House Of Representatives, Politicians From Durban, Paracanoeists, Australian Mps 2025–2028
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