A One Nation candidate who could hand the Nationals the seat of Hunter, thanks to a handshake preference deal, has called public health officials “little Hitlers” and promoted a conspiracy theory alleging the government has used the climate crisis to control every aspect of people’s lives.
Stuart Bonds told a livestreamed forum with rightwing activists last week that the federal government should not do anything to address climate change. He also claimed “a crime” was committed against Australians during the Covid pandemic, alleging they were used “as an experiment to sell pharmaceutical projects”.
The comments were made after the Coalition and One Nation agreed to a “last minute” change to how-to-vote cards, moving each other up the preference list. At the 2022 election, the Nationals placed One Nation fourth. They are now second. One Nation is now preferencing the Nationals third, behind Trumpet of Patriots, which is preferencing the Nationals above Labor.
Bonds, who in 2019 was reported by Channel Nine as saying “the only thing worse than a gay person with power is a woman”, won 5.7% of the primary vote in 2022 when he ran as an independent. The then One Nation candidate, Dale McNamara, won 10% of the primary vote in 2022. Hunter, in New South Wales, is held by Labor’s Dan Repacholi with a margin of 4.8%.
At the time, Bonds responded that he was “absolutely not” a homophobe or a misogynist, and his spokesperson denied the accuracy of the report, saying Nine had “failed to show the videos in full”.
The Coalition believes preference flows from One Nation and other rightwing candidates could push Liberal and National candidates over the line in tight regional and outer suburban contests. But some Coalition insiders have criticised the decision, arguing they could damage support among metropolitan voters and help independents in at-risk seats.
Bonds was also the One Nation candidate for Hunter in 2019, when he secured 21.5% of the primary vote. He fell 1,900 votes short of the then Nationals candidate, Josh Angus, with 22,029 first preferences. After running as an independent in 2022, he has returned to the One Nation fold.
The Coalition does not expect Pauline Hanson’s party to win lower house seats but hopes that Liberals and Nationals will benefit from preference flows from One Nation above the national average of 61.3% recorded in 2022.
At the 2022 election, 72.5% of One Nation preferences in Hunter went to the Nationals candidate. Flows of above 80% are expected to help its candidate, Sue Gilroy, this time.
Bonds told the livestreamed discussion on the social media platform X that One Nation and the Nationals had reached a “deal” in Hunter.
“We took those minor parties and we pushed them down the ticket, we pushed the Nationals up,” Bonds said.
When asked to outline his position on climate change, Bonds said the Australian government should not do anything to lower global carbon emissions.
“I just do not accept that we here in Australia can affect the temperature of the planet,” Bonds said. “I don’t think there’s anything we can do about it. And nor should we.
“All it is, therefore, is so the government can control and manipulate your life. That is the only purpose of what this is, so that they can regulate, control, tax, monitor every single thing that you do.”
Bonds, who has a long history of opposing vaccine mandates, said his “main issue with the whole coronavirus thing was the little Hitlers that came out, the little mid-level bureaucrats” who monitored people for social distancing and mask wearing.
“The large crime behind the whole thing was the vaccine itself,” Bonds told the live stream. “That was the big crime. They used us as an experiment to sell pharmaceutical projects.”
Bonds was contacted for a response. A One Nation spokesperson said Bonds had the party’s “full support” after being shown a transcript of his comments.
A One Nation source told Guardian Australia it reached a handshake agreement with the Nationals leader, David Littleproud, which included preferencing the party above Liberal candidates in three-cornered races.
The Coalition was also contacted with questions about why it had decided to preference this candidate above other parties including Labor, the Greens, Family First and the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers.
On the campaign trail, Peter Dutton was asked if he would deal with One Nation in any possible minority government. He claimed there was no prospect of any of the party’s candidates being elected in the lower house, saying “the only independents who are in prospect in the lower house are those who are already there, or some in teal seats or Greens seats”.
Dutton did not answer whether the Coalition would seek One Nation support in the Senate. “I wouldn’t be mucking around with independents and third parties at this election. I really wouldn’t,” he said.
