Coal backlash puts One Nation within winning distance of Labor in NSW seat of Hunter

He appeared on Channel 7’s Australia’s Cheapest Weddings with his heavily tattooed wife in 2016. Now One Nation candidate Stuart Bonds has an “outside chance” of ending Labor’s century-long hold in the NSW seat of Hunter thanks to a whopping 21.84 per cent swing toward him.

• Stuart Bond’s rambling Facebook video
• Election candidates’ shocking behaviour

One Nation’s candidate in the NSW seat of Hunter says he’s still an “outside chance” to end Labor’s century-long hold on the electorate after pro-coal voters revolted against the party.

Labor incumbent Joel Fitzgibbon, who has held the seat since 1996, currently leads The Nationals’ Josh Angus by 2.52 per cent on two-party preferred with 77.54 per cent of the vote counted.

One Nation candidate Stuart Bonds with wife Sini Ariell.

But One Nation candidate Stuart Bonds, a mining mechanic and cattle farmer, trails Mr Angus by just 1,752 votes and could still finish second, which would change the entire two-party preferred result.

Mr Bonds, who received a whopping 21.84 per cent swing toward him, said he wouldn’t consider himself out of the race against Mr Fitzgibbon until all the votes are in.

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“This is a long way from over,” he said.

“It’s going to take nearly two weeks for these results to come in, it’s on a knife’s edge once you talk preferences.

The couple appeared on Channel 7’s Australia’s Cheapest Weddings.

“It’s an outside chance (I win), definitely an outside chance but look it was an outside chance that I would have got this much of the vote to start with so I’m definitely not going to walk away.”

The controversial candidate ran a prolific campaign on social media.

On Facebook Mr Bonds railed against Australia’s current immigration policy, saying the country was being “demographically replaced by people of the third world”.

“I hardly recognise the country I grew up in anymore. All the factories our parents worked in have closed and relocated to China.

Labor incumbent Joel Fitzgibbon. Picture: Chris Pavlich

Stuart Bonds and wife Sini Ariell.

“I intend to go to Canberra and attack the heart of the dragon — the corrupt corporations and politicians that have sold this nation out.”

Mr Bonds and his wife Sini Ariell, who runs a tattoo business, also have a YouTube channel that shares some of the most private moments in their lives.

The couple appeared on Channel 7’s Australia’s Cheapest Weddings in 2016, revealing the total cost of the ceremony was just $300 and the reception $400.

Stuart Bonds plans to “attack the heart of the dragon”.

Coal mining is the single biggest employing industry in the Hunter, with 9 per cent of the electorate working in the sector according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016 census.

More than 17 per cent of employed people in the area work as technicians and trades roles.

Mr Bonds said mining and the future of the coal industry was a major concern for voters.

“With a lot of coal mining and energy jobs in the area, and a large farming district, I just felt that the Labor Party were jumping into bed with the Greens,” he said.

“The other big issue was Liddell coal fire power station, now that is due to shut down in a few years and there’s been talk of this renewable power field to go in, but what we really want to see is Liddell kept open and a new clean coal power station built like the ones Japan are building.”

He said voter anger toward Labor spiked after the Queensland state Labor government blocked approvals for Adani’s controversial Carmichael coal mine in the Galilee Basin.

Stuart Bonds and wife Sini Ariell.

Stuart Bonds secured a 21.8% swing.

“I didn’t have too many people mention Adani to start with, but then when it got knocked back I think that opened a few people’s eyes up to what was going to happen under Labor,” he said.

“I know it was a state issues, but that didn’t matter, people still conflated the two.”

Meanwhile Mr Fitzgibbon, who inherited the longstanding safe Labor seat from his father Eric, has told News Corp Australia he believed Labor’s progressive agenda had alienated its blue-collar base.

“I think in our enthusiasm to drive positive change in this election we drifted a little to the Left,” he said.

“Our new leader needs to get us firmly back to the centre and back on to the right path.”