One Nation’s man in Hunter

Miner and One Nation candidate Stuart Bonds is an outside chance of taking the traditional Labor seat of Hunter.

Stuart Bonds with his wife Sini Ariell and their daughter Penny. Picture: Chris Pavlich

A One Nation candidate, also a member of the CFMEU, has a chance of winning the NSW seat of Hunter after a backlash over Labor’s stand on the Adani coalmine saw a 20 per cent swing against its longstanding member.

Joel Fitzgibbon, who has held the seat since 1996, told The Australian Labor’s progressive agenda had alienated its blue-collar base and the party now needed to “move back to the centre”.

“Hawke, Keating and Rudd won by sticking to the political centre and 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.”

Stuart Bonds, a mining mechanic and cattle farmer, yesterday said Labor and the unions had prioritised the Greens over workers.

“The swing towards me has been mainly working-class Labor voters. One big thing from the booths was the painters and the miners, all in their high-vis, saying they never would have voted against Labor before, but they feel let down,” he said.

Mr Fitzgibbon holds a five-point two-party-preferred lead over the Nationals’ Josh Angus. But, trailing by just 2000 votes, Mr Bonds could challenge if preferences from the Christian Democrats or United Australia Party go his way.

The unlikely contender, who is married to Finnish pin-up model and tattoo artist Sini Ariell, said voter dissatisfaction with the major parties had been key to his success. A sentiment, he says, that will only continue to grow if politicians don’t listen to people who voted in protest over the weekend.

“I might be the start of this but I certainly won’t be the end of it. Next time there’s an election there will be 50 Stuart Bonds and they will be right around the country.”

NSW Minerals Council chief executive Stephen Galilee said he had noticed “unease” among coalmining communities and union members in the past 12 months over whether the Labor Party was still representing their interests.

“People are expressing their grave concerns and dissatisfaction about how the Labor Party had ­becomes fixated on climate change. It’s become a factor in Queensland seats as well,” he said.

Mr Fitzgibbon, who has held the NSW Hunter seat since 1996, suffered a swing of 20 percent per cent towards One Nation and Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party.

One Nation candidate Stuart Bonds was a close contender in the mining district, mostly due to his pro-coal Adani mine stance, but Mr Fitzgibbon is set to retain the seat, which includes the towns of Singleton, Muswellbrook and Cessnock.