Tony Windsor knows he's up for a David and Goliath battle as he makes an attempt to return to federal parliament.
The former independent MP has confirmed he will challenge Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce for the NSW seat of New England, which he left vacant at the 2013 election.
Mr Windsor, who controversially backed Julia Gillard over Tony Abbott after the hung 2010 election, has promised to mount a full-scale grassroots campaign.
"I'm fully aware that it will be a David and Goliath event," he told reporters in Parliament House in Canberra on Thursday.
His pitch was not about sending Mr Joyce a message, it was about winning the seat.
Mr Joyce, now The Nationals leader and deputy prime minister, holds New England with a 20 per cent margin.
A Reachtel poll in January found first-preference support for Mr Windsor was running at about 33 per cent against 39.5 per cent for Mr Joyce - down from 54 per cent at the 2013 election.
Mr Windsor is likely to pick up preferences from Labor, the Greens and other independents, but he won't be doing any deals.
"I have never done a preference deal in my life," he said.
Mr Windsor consulted his family before making the decision to re-enter politics, saying he felt compelled because "things" were stalling in New England.
He accused Mr Joyce and others in the coalition of blocking progress when it came to issues of the future, such as renewable energy and alternatives to fossil fuels.
"It is this small group of right-wingers of which Barnaby Joyce is one, Tony Abbott, (Eric) Abetz, you all know who they are, that have a handbrake on progress."
If he held the balance of power in parliament again, Mr Windsor would not formally support one side over the other as he did in 2010.
"My leaning would be to being absolutely independent," he said.
While Mr Windsor is not opposed to coal mines, having lived next door to one since he was four years old, he has huge concerns about the proposed Shenhua mine and the impact on water supply in the Liverpool Plains region.
He said he is committed to fighting the project as well as to protecting water in the Murray-Darling Basin.
In making his decision to return to the fray of federal politics, Mr Windsor quoted Australian of the Year David Morrison - who he has never met.
"The standard you walk past is the standard you accept".
Key issues motivating Tony Windsor
- Against the Shenhua coal mine proposal for the Liverpool Plains: "An area with some of the best soil in the world, only bettered, in my view ... by the black soils of the Ukraine."
- Upset coalition government guttered Labor's Gonski school funding model: "For the government to attack Gonski, the needs-based funding arrangements, on one hand and then talk about innovation ... the two things just don't gel."
- Angry the national broadband network has moved to fibre-to-node: "What if we were able to keep aged people in their homes for one, two or three or five years longer because of the real-time connection with ... their doctor?"
- Wants more action on climate change: "How can you possibly develop a white paper looking at ... the future of agriculture without looking at the implications, the potential risks of climate change?"
- Called for more renewable energy investment to create jobs: "We've got a current member who thinks renewable energy is a bit of a joke."
- Laments the loss of a Defence contract for a flying college in the New England electorate: "Our guy (Barnaby Joyce) didn't fight (to keep it)."
