Stephen Andrew tipped to lead One Nation in Queensland

WITH only one candidate left with any hope of winning a seat for One Nation in Queensland, all eyes are on Stephen Andrew.

One Nation candidate for Mirani Stephen Andrew was stationed out the front of the Walkerston State School polling booth.

HE’S a firearms dealer, does pest control and may soon be One Nation’s only sitting member and leader by default.

Stephen Andrew has been catapulted into the spotlight as the only member of One Nation’s team with any chance of securing a seat in Queensland’s parliament.

The Mackay resident is currently predicted to take the seat of Mirani, which covers a coastal area between Rockhampton and Mackay.

With about 75 per cent of the vote counted, Liberal National Party preferences are helping Mr Andrew to oust the sitting Labor MP Jim Pearce, and he currently has 53 per cent of the two-party preferred vote.

Mr Andrew is a political novice, unlike other high profile candidates like Malcolm Roberts, Steve Dickson and Jim Savage, who failed to get over the line but he could soon find himself taking the lead.

In his candidate profile on One Nation’s website, Mr Andrew describes himself as a family man and “4th generation South Sea islander/local Mackay person”.

“The reason I joined One Nation ... is to help restructure what big business and poor government decisions has done to our farmers/graziers, industries and jobs in the Mirani electorate, the suffering needs to stop and growth needs to start,” his profile says.

At the moment Mr Andrew is a licenced weapons dealer running his own business Western Action Firearms. He also has a pest control business, CQ Feral, and a mining services business.

“I do vertebrate pest management for a lot of farmers and a lot of big businesses,” Mr Andrew told The Morning Bulletin.

One Nation Candidate Stephen Andrew.

“Sometimes we relocate them, sometimes we euthanise them, it just depends on the situation, mostly pigs, dogs, feral cats, anything up to feral camels or feral horses.”

Mr Andrew said he was motivated to get into politics after seeing people’s quality of life eroded by things like increased costs of power and fuel. His focus will be on avoiding over taxing, drought proofing as well as more training and job prospects for younger people.

Mr Andrew said One Nation leader Pauline Hanson reflected the views of most Australians.

“She is a positive and realistic person and inspires the public to have hope for the future,” he said.

While he rejects the idea that One Nation is racist, saying “I grew up in a very multicultural environment” and in an area with lots of Muslims and Christians, he didn’t think Australia was ready for more immigration.

“We’ve just got so many of our own issues to sort out. You don’t buy a bird without the cage,” he said.