A FRESH outlook is what Noeline Ikin hopes will topple Kennedy's king, MP Bob Katter, after being confirmed as the Liberal National party candidate to contest the seat in the 2016 federal election.
Ms Ikin said "politics is being a salesperson" for a region in parliament and is confident Kennedy is ready for a new broker.
"I think Bob [Katter] has been a fighter for a very long time and that has burned a lot of bridges," Ms Ikin said.
"I'm looking at building some new bridges for these opportunities we've got."
Ms Ikin joins the race against union officer Norm Jacobson, was announced in July as Labor's candidate.
She said she'd bring the "fresh approach" the electorate needed.
"I think we've fallen into a little bit of negative hole," she said.
"There are things that are wrong and if we just focus on what's wrong, and not focus on where opportunities are, we definitely stand to lose out on a lot."
Ms Ikin achieved a 16.1 per cent swing in the last election for LNP, claiming over 10,000 more primary votes than Mr Katter, but the long-serving MP held his grip through preferences.
Since then, Ms Ikin said she's put in the hard yards to come back stronger.
"I've spent the last three years working with people, identifying the issues and working out how to fix it," Ms Ikin said.
Job creation and industry profitability have been listed as Ms Ikin's top priorities.
She said water would be a key issue to securing economic opportunities in Kennedy.
"It's identifying how we can capture water and store water and provide water for profitable industries," Ms Ikin said.
"We need to make sure we design these water bodies to allow us to maximise these opportunities."
If elected, Ms Ikin said she'd work hard to ensuring remote education and health services got a fairer go with federal government investment.
Kennedy MP Bob Katter has not confirmed whether he will re-contest the next election and did not immediately return Fairfax Media's calls.
