Voters' growing disillusionment with the major parties has given independent candidates a chance to replicate the success of teal politicians in a new battleground.
Jessie Price is one of the few Climate 200-backed independents vying for a Labor heartland at the federal election.
Climate 200 is an action group convened by businessman Simon Holmes a Court to crowdfund community-backed independent election candidates to advance climate policy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The south Canberra seat of Bean gave the government a 12.9 per cent margin over the Liberals in 2022 but Ms Price says her community has had enough.
"People are so keen to have an alternative," she told AAP.
"They feel very jaded with the two major parties and the direction that things are going.
"We are not a safe seat and we don't want to be taken for granted."
Independents supported by Climate 200 - like Zoe Daniel, Allegra Spender and Monique Ryan - entered parliament in 2022 after beating Liberal MPs in blue-ribbon electorates on a platform of climate action and integrity in politics.
Ms Price could be buoyed by these results because she shares similar values and stories with these politicians.
As a midwife with no prior political experience, she was inspired to take action after seeing the impact of the 2019 Black Summer bushfires on her community.
"I was catching babies in rooms that smelled like smoke," she said.
But taking on Labor is not the same as challenging the coalition, according to election analyst Ben Raue.
In Liberal seats, teal independents are generally the strongest progressive candidate, which means they receive preferences from Greens or Labor voters.
But when the coalition is the third choice, it's unclear how an independent will perform and there are comparatively fewer examples of progressive candidates beating Labor in this situation.
The Greens have achieved this on the federal level, when now-leader Adam Bandt won the seat of Melbourne in 2010 after Liberal preferences flowed in his favour.
That year, progressive independent Andrew Wilkie also won the safe Labor seat of Denison.
The seat was later replaced by the Tasmanian division of Clark but Mr Wilkie's popularity remains and his electorate is one of the safest in the country.
Just next door, Climate 200-backed independent Peter George is also hoping to wrestle the seat of Franklin from Labor when voters go to the polls later this year.
And Mr Raue believes there may be some hope yet for the Labor challengers as the party is significantly less popular now and could suffer a significant progressive protest vote.
This sentiment has echoed throughout the community of Bean, according to Ms Price.
"Labor came in with a lot of promises on climate and people were very thrilled about that, but now so many people have been so disappointed," she said.
"You can't say that you're for climate and look to open new coal and gas projects.
"It's the antithesis of climate action and that disappointment has translated into people standing up in a safe Labor seat."
Labor MP for Bean David Smith said he will run his own race but maintained a stable, majority government would deliver better results and keep Opposition Leader Peter Dutton in check.
"I'm actually more worried about what a Dutton government has planned for Canberra, regardless of who sits on the crossbench," he told AAP.
Having previously worked in the public sector before joining local labour movements, the coalition's proposal to cut public servants and roll back industrial relations protections were of particular concern to Mr Smith.
"I come with a social justice heart and I think we need representatives who are prepared to help all in our community," he said.
While Ms Price and her Labor opponent may share similar worries, she said she would not be held back by the machinations of major parties.
"The real strength of being an independent is that you're just beholden to your community, so there's none of the party politics that goes on in the back rooms," she said.
Liberal candidate David Lamerton said people within Bean were feeling under-represented after being led by Labor MPs for almost three decades.
"The community it doing it tough out there," he told AAP.
"The small business owners are worried about the energy costs that continue to go up, they're worried about the insurance.
"A Dutton-led government will reduce the cost of living and that will dramatically affect the amount of money that's coming out of people's pockets."
Independents are also challenging Labor in other areas including the NT seat of Solomon, currently on a 9.4 per cent margin over the Country Liberal Party, and the razor-edge electorate of Gilmore on the NSW south coast.
But these battlegrounds are a wholly different challenge to safe seats.
"It's a lot harder to break through as a minor party or an independent where both the major parties are fiercely contesting a seat," Mr Raue told AAP.
"A lot of the success is driven by the seat being safe and saying, 'we're going to change that'."
During the 2022 election, independent Jo Dyer ran on a teal-adjacent agenda in the marginal South Australian seat of Boothby, but ranked fourth in first preference votes behind the Liberals, Labor and the Greens.
"I don't think that they can't do it, I just think it requires a different strategy, and probably more popularity," Mr Raue said.
