Four years ago, these two women fought out an election thriller that was not settled for a week after the voting and was won in the end by a margin of fewer than 1000 votes.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Tomorrow, Caroline Le Couteur of the ACT Greens, and Giulia Jones of the Canberra Liberals will face off again for the prized seventh seat in the central Canberra electorate of Molonglo and both expect another epic encounter.
Ms Le Couteur, long written off as a one-term wonder, received a boost from yesterday's Canberra Times poll, which gave her a good chance of holding her seat.
But Ms Jones is a seasoned campaigner and said yesterday that she and her team had given themselves every chance to get over the line this time.
Patterson Research Group managing director Keith Patterson, who conducted the polling published this week, said the Liberals were not within striking distance of a third seat in Molonglo.
He said that Ms Le Couteur was more likely to be in a preference face-off with Labor than with the Liberals to hold her seat.
The poll showed Labor attracting 45 per cent of the vote in Molonglo, the Liberals 30 per cent and the Greens 20 per cent, which would translate into three seats for Labor, two for the Liberals and two for the Greens.
''But it will come down to a handful of votes for the final quota,'' Mr Patterson said.
The opposition still believes it has a strong chance and Ms Jones is considered the Liberals' candidate most likely to be leading the charge.
In 2008, Ms Jones and Ms Le Couteur were so close to each other's votes that it took electoral authorities seven days to eventually declare a winner, with Ms Le Couteur scraping home over her conservative rival by about 900 votes.
The MLA told The Canberra Times yesterday she expected to undergo the same ordeal of uncertainty this year.
''I'd expected it to be seven-seven-three and that the last seat in Molonglo would be too close to call,'' she said.
''The margin that I will get it by or that anyone gets it by will be less than margin for error in the survey.
''If I get elected or I don't get elected, I'll have a week of uncertainty just like I did last time.''
Ms Le Couteur said she was delighted by yesterday's poll predicting the Greens would hold on to their four seats in the Assembly.
She believed it would be a tough fight to retain her own seat.
