Queensland has long been home to some of Australia's most notable political mavericks.
For years the country has witnessed the likes of Pauline Hanson, Clive Palmer and Bob Katter rise, fall and rise again.
But what is it about the Sunshine State that makes maverick candidates popular, and what could happen at next month's federal election?
What is a maverick?
According to associate professor Paul Williams, a political analyst from Griffith University, a maverick, simply put, is someone who "bucks the system and goes against the grain".
"They argue that they don't serve any master, they don't serve any elites, and they're not part of the elite, they're not part of the establishment," he said.
Dr Williams said this messaging had a strong appeal to people who felt the system had let them down.
"No-one should be surprised if the vote for [maverick politicians] surges [at the upcoming election]," he said.
Dr Williams said some politicians had "hitched their wagon" to the general theme of freedom and anti-vaccination mandates.
But Dr Williams said not all mavericks came from the right wing of politics or from Queensland.
"We've had mavericks in the centre, Nick Xenophon in South Australia with his own party," he said.
"He's carved out a career over disgruntlement towards the major parties, and he did so from the centre.
"Mavericks don't have to be from one side of politics or the other, they can come across the political spectrum.
"But populism tends to be a common theme … that the system is somehow rigged, that the system is broken, that elites are ruining our lives, and only they as mavericks have the answer."
Queensland's mavericks: who are they?
Kennedy MP Bob Katter has long been considered a maverick and said he and his party were constantly being underestimated.
"That to some degree suits us, the fact that we're regarded as nothing," he said.
"I would say 70 per cent of the time I was in the National Party, I had absolutely no idea what I was voting on.
"I crossed the floor about 15 times, but you get such a hiding, you're vilified [by the party].
"[Now] the people of north Queensland don't get represented by a spokesman for a political organisation in Brisbane and the commercial interests that float that political organisation."
Speaking to the media last week when announcing that another controversial politician, former LNP Member for Dawson George Christensen, had joined her One Nation party as a Senate candidate, Senator Hanson said people should not underestimate her this election.
"The people have indicated they have had enough of the major political parties — Liberal, Labor and the Greens and the Nationals," she said.
"They are looking for change, they are looking for representation, looking for people who will represent them on the floor of parliament with integrity and honesty."
Speaking at the launch of his United Australia Party (UAP) at the weekend, Mr Palmer said he used to be a life member of the LNP, but now found the major parties "contemptible".
"We're interested in finishing first and winning seats," he said.
The state's maverick history
Former Labor Legislative Assembly speaker turned political commentator at the Queensland University of Technology, Associate Professor John Mickel said mavericks were not a recent occurrence.
Former Bundaberg MP Frank 'Bombshell' Barnes and Townsville-based MP Tom Aikens were considered mavericks of their time, and to this day the only Communist Party member elected to any Australian parliament was former Queensland MP Fred Paterson.
"They tend to come out of regional or provincial city areas."
Mr Mickel said the recent crop of maverick politicians also tended to be people who had had a falling out with a major party — such as Mr Katter and Mr Palmer falling out with the Nationals, and Senator Hanson with the Liberals.
Current state of play
In Queensland at the 2019 federal election, One Nation polled significantly higher than in other states, receiving 8.9 per cent of the vote compared with the national result of 3.1 per cent.
The party's support was strongest in regional areas, with seats like Flynn in central Queensland recording a 19.6 per cent primary vote for the party.
Mr Palmer's UAP received 3.4 per cent of the vote in Queensland and Katter's Australia Party received 2.47 per cent, although Mr Katter was returned with more than 63 per cent of the primary vote in the north Queensland electorate of Kennedy.
Dr Williams said it would be interesting to see the impact Mr Palmer's advertising blitz for the UAP would have on results, given "it is a different kind of populism to what Queensland is used to".
Mr Palmer told the National Press Club he expected to spend $70 million this election and billboards for UAP already dominate Queensland highways, alongside One Nation.
Why are mavericks popular in the Sunshine State?
Dr Williams said to answer that question, it was important to understand the state's demographics.
He said Queensland was the most decentralised mainland Australian state and that played a huge role in voters' attraction to mavericks.
"Queenslanders … were, for a long time … more decentralised and more religious than the national mean," he said.
Regional parts of the state were also historically under-exposed to international migration and multiculturalism.
Mr Mickel agreed and said localism — a political philosophy that prioritised local production, local control of government, and local identity — also played a part in their support, as certain voters believed they were fighting for them and their beliefs.
"It's that localism and regionalism that has historically produced people who are seeking to be mavericks of the system," he said.
"In Katter's case, that was built around the north-west of the state and championing the issues as he sees them there."
Future mavericks?
With former premier Campbell Newman vying for a Senate seat with the Liberal Democrats, could he be a future Queensland maverick?
Mr Mickel thinks so, as Mr Newman fitted the mould of someone who had fallen out with a major party.
The former state LNP leader — who led the party to the greatest political victory seen in Australia in 2012, then lost the 2015 election — quit the party in 2021, saying he was dismayed that the "political wing has failed to stand up for our core values".
But Mr Mickel said there was another possibility for a new maverick and someone more towards the centre of politics rather than the fringes.
Former Newman government minister turned independent, Bundaberg Mayor Jack Dempsey, will challenge incumbent LNP MP Keith Pitt in the seat of Hinkler, based around Bundaberg and the Fraser Coast.
"He would very much join the ranks of maverick," Mr Mickel said.
