Chiaka Barry knows what work is. In 2008, she arrived in Australia on a temporary visa. She then enrolled at the University of Canberra with a marriage behind her and two very young children to support. It was work or sink. She stayed afloat.
And she has had more than her share of hard knocks. Thirteen years ago, her brother back in Nigeria was murdered, and her eyes still moisten when she talks about him.
So the story of the Liberals' candidate for Ginninderra is that of a classic migrant: coping with adversity through hard work - and coming through.
"I knew that the best chance of surviving and making a life for my children and myself was by finishing the degree," she says at her home in Bonner as she microwaves soy milk for coffee.
"I knew that I had to work really hard and I had to study as well."
When she studied at the University of Canberra, her marriage was over. The three-month-old son she had when she arrived had been joined by a daughter. She wanted to turn her Nigerian law qualification into a masters degree - but the fee was $50,000.
"I worked four jobs. I worked as a personal care worker in an aged-care facility. I also ran a really small catering business. I also ran a very small salon where I would braid hair on the weekend. I also worked as a paralegal in the department of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
"But the most significant role that I had was, obviously, being a mum to my two kids."
In the end, the hard work paid off. She qualified as a solicitor.
But the hardest knock still hits her daily. "The day my brother passed was a really terrible day. That day changed the trajectory of life and the way that I see the world," she said.
On that day in July, 2011, she arrived home after studying at university, and the house was crowded with people from the Canberra Nigerian community.
"I was wondering, 'Why are these guys in my house? I want to go to sleep and go to work the next day'. And I was told that my brother had passed - that he had been murdered," she recalled.
The autopsy revealed he had been strangled. The motive will never be known. "It's the not knowing that eats me up every day," she said.
Her background in Nigeria was middle-class. She was the daughter of businesspeople. Her mother, for example, had a catering business.
So her class background may explain why she gravitated towards the Liberals. The common view that the left is the side for non-white people doesn't convince her.
"I'm an economic migrant so it's about which party gives me and my children the best possible future," she said, maintaining the party line.
But she said it was "important that people don't just see me as a minority pick".
Her mother is now with her in Canberra, and she helps with the canvassing. Her son, 16, and daughter, 14, also do the envelope-sealing which elections involve.
The teenagers are like lots of teens and, therefore, reticent about parents. "I think they're proud but they don't say it," the mother says.
"Sometimes they don't want me bringing the car [which currently has a big blue Liberals sticker with her face and name plastered on it] to school - but they help me letterbox."
She thinks the knocks and hurdles make her a good candidate.
"When someone tells me the price of bread has gone up by 50 per cent, I understand," she says.
It's her first time and she usually doesn't talk like a politician but then the mode clicks in: "I think what's most important is that my experience and the way I grew up gives me the discipline to be an effective administrator."
But she switches back to human mode when she talks about her brother: "It made me think more about how tragedy affects people and victims of crime and families who've lost loved ones in such a drastic way."
