Zed Seselja's surprise announcement this week he was joining "the exodus out of Canberra" and into regional NSW was both out of the blue and entirely predictable.
He's officially turning his back on the capital and, with missionary-like zeal, is forging a brave new path across the border.
But, knowing Canberrans have made up their minds about him, it's not us he was appealing to in his campaign video, in which he promised to come after immigration numbers, cancel culture, and "the woke indoctrination of our kids" if he was selected for the seat vacated by former foreign affairs minister Marise Payne.
It's the good people of NSW, who don't really know him yet, whose hearts he must win over.
He's now gearing up to take part in the sort of culture war that has Canberra pegged as some kind of woke enclave, in which bold conservatives like him are cancelled left, right and centre for their courageous views and tell-it-like-it-is chutzpah.
Of course, we know the main reason he failed here was that he wasn't doing the right thing by Canberrans - the same population that secured him his place as a senator in the first place.
By refusing to support the territory's rights to determine laws around voluntary assisted dying, he essentially sounded the death knell on his career as an ACT representative.
And his staunchly conservative views on issues such as abortion and voluntary assisted dying certainly didn't help.
It's possible the things that forced him out of Canberra may well be the same things that contribute to (if not determine) his success over the border.
But he is, it must be remembered, essentially an outsider over there, even with the support of a bunch of high-profile conservatives, including former prime minister Tony Abbott, Liberal-National senator Matt Canavan, and shadow defence minister Andrew Hastie.
All three appeared in his candidacy video, urging party members to back Mr Seselja into the role. He also has the backing of Liberal Leader Peter Dutton in a letter to preselectors, but it's not clear any of this will do him any good.
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A quick bit of informal polling by Canberra Times reporter Steve Evans showed his brand recognition on the streets of his adoptive home of Queanbeyan was low, and those who had heard of him had little to say by way of encouragement.
Ultimately, it's clear Mr Seselja wants the world to know he's taken nothing by way of lessons from his Canberra defeat. In NSW, he's hoping his conservatism will appeal to enough fellow travellers.
Many within our territory borders will say "better them than us".
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