The daughter of a seasoned Labor minister, Annastacia Palaszczuk has seen the party through its darkest days to become a Queensland political force in her own right.
The 45-year-old opposition leader was born in Durack in southwestern Brisbane to Henry and Lorelle Palaszczuk.
Her grandparents, hard-working Polish migrants, fled Europe after World War II and eventually settled in nearby Inala.
Henry entered state politics in 1984, and served as a Beattie-era minister in several portfolios, before retiring in 2006.
In her 20s, Ms Palaszczuk completed degrees in Arts and Law from the University of Queensland, a Master of Arts from the London School of Economics, and a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice from Australian National University.
She went on to serve as a policy advisor to several Labor ministers.
During that time she experienced heartbreak, losing a baby 11 weeks into a pregnancy when she was 34 and contracting endometriosis, which affects fertility.
She's spoken candidly in the past about her regret at not becoming a mother and her natural connection with children has been evident on the 2015 campaign trail.
In 2006, Ms Palaszczuk was preparing for a career as a solicitor, but instead successfully stood in her father's recently-vacated seat.
She quickly rose through the ranks under former Premier Anna Bligh, serving at different times as a disabilities, multicultural and transport minister.
But when Ms Bligh suffered one of the worst electoral defeats in Australian history in 2012, Ms Palaszczuk was left as one of seven Labor MPs in Queensland's 89-seat parliament.
One of the most experienced survivors, she was elected unopposed as Labor leader after the fallen premier retired and forced a by-election in her seat.
It was a dark time for Labor, with even former premier Peter Beattie predicting the result could sentence the party to five terms in the political wilderness.
But under Ms Palaszczuk's leadership, polls indicate the vote will be close on Saturday and Labor could even have an outside chance of winning.
Ms Palaszczuk has campaigned hard against the Newman government's $37 billion asset leasing plan, saying Labor was crushed in 2012 because Queenslanders rejected the party's own privatisation plans.
Away from the cameras, Ms Palaszczuk is easy-going and approachable.
In fact, she considers the ability to chat with and listen to everyday Queenslanders as one of the most important leadership qualities she holds over Premier Campbell Newman.
Unfortunately, it's a different story when the cameras are rolling, with Ms Palaszczuk's nerves often on show.
She made the biggest gaffe of the campaign when failing to answer what the GST rate was during a breakfast radio quiz.
But Ms Palaszczuk insists she's ready to lead, and while she keeps in contact with her father regularly, she jokes she has banned her tech-savvy father from commenting on Twitter about state issues.
Outside of politics, she's a doting aunty, regularly inviting her nieces and nephews over for a swim and taking them to activities like ballet practice.
