But its a challenge she believes she is prepared for. 

“I don’t take any votes for granted, none at all, obviously this is not going to be an easy job and it is going to take a lot of work, but I have been putting a lot of work in since day one,” she said.  

“I always think that change is difficult for some people and easy for others, I think the people of Ballarat can be looking for an alternative. I offer that alternative and it is worth looking at.

“It is a challenge, they have got to get to know me. It is a matter of saying ‘this is who I am’, and the best way is to get out there and talk to them.” 

The Liberal Party sat 4.9 per cent behind incumbent Catherine King at the 2013 election and that followed a massive swing against Labor.

But it doesn’t make the possibility of dethroning Ms King impossible.

Ms Wade said it was her previous work as a lawyer, specialising in criminal and business law, that drove her to get involved with politics.    

“Part of practise was to go out and see people in their place of work,” she said. 

“To go out to their business or to got to their home and listen to what their concerns were. As a lawyer I can only take those concerns so far, but I wanted to do a little bit more.

“My pitch to the Ballarat people is that I have a background in small business but working with people and understanding people at all levels, being able to get out there and have a good conversation with people about what they want.

“I am here and I am on the ground and I will be the best representative I can and take their concerns where they need to go and get the best possible results for them.”

Ms Wade said the issues of creating jobs and tackling the ice epidemic were the most important to her if she had to single some out. 

“There are so many, but I think if I have to have to pick, I would say jobs but I would also say the ice epidemic,” she said. 

“That is something that I am really passionate about  because I have worked with the people, with victims, people who have been accused, I have worked with their families, it is something that I know and am passionate about, to get in and see what I can do.”