Weeks before the election was called, Lyons Liberal candidate Susie Bower made an observation.
"I can't remember the last time a prime minister came to Triabunna," she said.
She made the comment as Prime Minister Scott Morrison visited the small east coast Tasmanian town to make a funding announcement for Antarctic infrastructure at a local manufacturing business.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese also visited the seat of Lyons in the weeks before a date was set for the election.
He made a promise for a jobs hub in the rapidly-growing outer suburb of Sorell in Tasmania's south.
Lyons may not be as marginal as Tasmania's northern seats of Bass and Braddon, but the recent visits by high-profile politicians are an indication that both major parties see winning Lyons as key to their overall success in the upcoming federal election.
"It's an incredibly important thing for Labor... they can't afford to lose seats and they can't afford to lose Lyons, and I think that's why they're probably taking that seriously," University of Tasmania public and environmental policy researcher Kate Crowley said.
She said Lyons was equally important for the Liberals.
"They have been looking at … marginal Labor seats as another weapon in their bow," she said.
Medical, mental health support big issues for voters
As far as electorates go, the seat of Lyons — covering just under half of Tasmania — could be one of the trickiest ones for politicians to pitch to.
Lyons covers large agricultural areas, as well as the tourism towns on the Tasman Peninsula, and then there are the rapidly growing outer suburban areas like Sorell and New Norfolk in Tasmania's south.
To appeal to Lyons voters, candidates will have to take on board the wide-ranging issues affecting people.
For Tiarna Kemp, a lack of services, particularly medical and mental health support, is a problem in her hometown of New Norfolk.
"I suffer with anxiety myself, and I know a lot of people in this town do, and there's not a lot of help out there," she said.
The 28-year-old said the country music radio program she had created was her outlet.
"I resorted to music and I believe that where words fail, music really does speak," she said.
Ms Kemp records a radio show every week and it is broadcast out of the United States.
Ms Kemp is also a carer for her mother who has an acquired brain injury.
Both women are unable to see their local doctor because the only GP clinic in New Norfolk has closed its books to new patients.
They have to travel about 35 kilometres into Hobart for medical appointments.
New Norfolk has grown in recent years, with more people moving to the area seeking cheaper housing.
Ms Kemp has noticed signs of growing pains.
She said there was not a lot for young people to do in the town and services were not keeping pace with growing demand.
"There's not a lot of help [for people] like me struggling to care for my mum," she said.
But she said sharing her love for country music, particularly Lee Kernaghan, helped her manage the stress in her life.
'Not a hope in hell of finding a place to rent'
Alan Burdon lives in Orford, which he describes as "one of the best places" on Tasmania's east coast.
The 66-year-old owns a boat but has not had a chance to get out on it much.
"Hopefully I get … to take a holiday. It's been about two or three years since I've had one," he said.
Mr Burdon is working up to 90 hours a week to keep Orford's local pub, bottle shop, and accommodation business open.
He needs about four more staff but is struggling to find anyone to fill positions at the hotel.
"I just keep going old-school, you've just got to keep working, that's the way it is," he said.
He said the biggest problem was not just finding staff, but finding somewhere for them to live.
"[There are] a lot of Airbnbs up here now. There's not a hope in hell of getting anything here in Orford to rent," he said.
He said the very few properties available had gone up in price.
"Rents that used to be $250 a week are now $400 and above to rent and someone on a hotel salary is not going to be able to pay $400 on top of food costs and everything like that, so that's an impossibility," he said.
Mr Burdon said he would have to consider restricting restaurant bookings given his limited staff numbers, "which obviously hurts the business".
He said as the federal election approached, he was not convinced much would change.
"We're the most overtaxed country in the world, we're double-taxed on alcohol, we're double-taxed on cigarettes, we're double-taxed on fuel," he said.
He would like to see politicians deliver on promises in the short-term.
"It's always, 'well, we'll do that within three years' time', and then in three years' time, people have forgotten about it, and what they said they would do never happens,"Mr Burdon said.
Incumbent Mitchell to clash against challenger Bower in Lyons
The seat of Lyons is held by former journalist and political staffer Brian Mitchell, with Labor holding the seat by a margin of about 5 per cent.
"Since he was first elected in 2016, he firmed up a touch in 2019 and I think he would be looking to make it a safer seat and probably has the skills to do that," Dr Crowley said.
At the last election, the Liberals disendorsed their candidate Jessica Whelan over anti-Muslim remarks posted online.
This time around, former Bell Bay Manufacturing chief Susie Bower is the Liberal candidate.
"[She] would have the business nous obviously and sounds like a prime Liberal candidate," Dr Crowley said.
Door-knocking in a seat as vast as Lyons will take candidates from the wilderness in the west to the east coast, and from the north to the south of the state.
"The demographic around the fringes is definitely gentrifying a bit as we see a bit of the tree change continuing, particularly in New Norfolk down in the south," Dr Crowley said.
"So that could be very interesting. But again, you've still got the conservative heartland of Lyons, so whether it balances itself out again we wait to see."
