Tasmania's North and North-West Coast are home to two of the state's most marginal electorates, Bass and Braddon.
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And both have been the target of intense campaigning through decades of elections.
Though the margins appear to be a bit wider this time around, we can still expect to see a lot of interest taken in these two electoral contests as the federal election campaign circus rolls into the region.
Federal election campaigns are often called circuses.
Performers scramble over each other to get our attention.
They promise us the world - money for roads, surf clubs, tax cuts - while weary audiences watch on, quietly weighing up their options.
Amidst all the noise and colour we the voters must decide which candidates are worthy of representing our voice in the national parliament.
We make a judgment based on what we hear, see and know, and also on what we feel.
Our feelings can be easily manipulated.
And the easiest feeling of all to foster in people is fear.
The context of the federal election has been changed by the tragic events in Christchurch.
We have been shocked into seeing what happens when fear is cultivated and the language of hate is left hanging in the public discourse unchallenged.
We have also watched as the light has been shone on an alternative way of responding - with hope, not fear.
We have been shocked into seeing what happens when fear is cultivated and the language of hate is left hanging in the public discourse unchallenged.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern boldly stepped into the void left by other political leaders, and spoke and acted with compassion and grace.
And somehow her response caught the world's attention.
Why? Because there is a void.
Because empathic leadership has become an exception when it should be the norm.
This federal election we have an opportunity to determine something deeper than whether our local road gets upgraded, we get to determine what we value in the people who will lead us.
The choice is stark.
Do we choose candidates who, when faced with challenges, retreat into blame, fear and division? Or do we choose those who open up to what is possible, respect our differences and unite us in hope?
Tasmania is a place where a lot of people do it tough. One-quarter of Tasmania's population lives in poverty.
That is around 120,000 Tasmanians who are trying to live on less than $519 a week.
Every day they need to find the resources to look after their family and to look for work.
People are having to make choices that many of us aren't forced to make, like having to move out of major population centres because there is no affordable housing.
They also face very personal barriers with low levels of literacy, dental problems and poor physical and mental health.
These people are our neighbours, our friends and family members. They are us.
Yet in the language of some of our political leaders and the media, they are "the other".
It has become a practice among some of those who represent us or seek to do so, to discriminate and label 'the other' in order to gain political advantage.
They seek to protect their position of power in our society by reinforcing inequality.
At our best, Tasmanians bring to life the idea of being good neighbours.
Our local communities are full of stories of families, struggling to make ends meet, finding food and clothing on the front doorstep.
We know that if we help others when they are doing it tough, then it's more likely that others will extend that same caring hand when tough times visit us.
We need leadership that reflects how we treat each other, leadership that is inclusive and compassionate and brings out the best in all of us.
As Prime Minister Ardern said so eloquently when she spoke of how we respond to violence, hate and extremism, "the answer lies in our humanity".
This election what we expect to see is the humanity of our candidates.
Can they walk alongside without judging, without saying things that inflict hurt or seek to divide? Can they articulate their values without denigrating the values of others?
Can they commit to action that lifts up the most vulnerable and gives them a real voice in the solutions that affect them? It is time for us to choose.