"The government's been in power for 15 years now and it just seems like they're losing touch with the community, they've stopped listening to the community. All of a sudden we had all these backdowns in the lead-up to the election, but the community's lost trust," she said.

"There are a lot of progressives who are disillusioned. I know a lot of Labor Party supporters as well as Green Party supporters who are not happy with their policies."

Ms Fatseas is well known to the inner south as a member of the Yarralumla Residents Association and its president during the fight against the now-abandoned extension of the suburb last year. She was also part of opposition to the large-scale development of Manuka Oval, until that plan too was more recently abandoned.

But despite being on the winning side of both battles, Ms Fatseas said she did not trust the government not to go back to "business as usual hand in glove with the developers after the election". Manuka Oval's future was still uncertain and she was concerned about plans for West Basin.

Development is not the only issue to motivate her. Ms Fatseas is also concerned about the tram, which she said was poor decision-making. The technology appeared to have been chosen first without considering whether it was the best transport option for the next 20 years – and by the time it had been rolled out to the entire city, the technology might well be superseded, she said. It also meant a new network of overhead powerlines in a city that had been trying to get rid of overhead lines for 50 years.

Born in Orange the daughter of Greek immigrant parents, Ms Fatseas came to Canberra to work in the Commonwealth public service, before setting up her own consultancy in 2006, Ideas Connect.

Among other policies, she wants a corruption commission, a ban on developer donations and is a big supporter of renewable energy.

She sees herself as an option for Labor supporters who might not want to switch to Liberal, but her chances of election are slim. She is standing in the most difficult electorate for independents, with the fifth seat in Kurrajong securely held by the Greens.

Another independent targeting the central seat is wildlife rescuer Marcus Fillinger, who is directly targeting Mr Rattenbury for his support for the kangaroo cull. So frustrated has Mr Fillinger become at the lack of progress on the trial of kangaroo contraception that he has now offered to train operators himself, free of charge, to deliver the vaccine. Mr Fillinger is a firearms tranquilliser expert and rescues kangaroos on his property.

Mr Rattenbury announced a trial of kangaroo fertility control more than two years ago, but to date, the government has hand-injected a contraceptive into just 65 kangaroos, and a placebo into 10 more. Earlier this year, it collared 50 kangaroos ready for dart-injection later in the year. It is unclear what progress has been made since.

Mr Fillinger, who has launched hardhitting campaign material threatening to kill Mr Rattenbury's career in return for Mr Rattenbury having "killed kangaroos", says the kangaroo cull costs $375 an animal, whereas the dart-injected vaccine can be delivered for just $29 an animal.