OUTSPOKEN coalminer and former Pauline Hanson's One Nation candidate Stuart Bonds has nominated again for the seat of Hunter, vacated at the May 21 federal election by the retirement of long-term Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon.
His nomination lodged, Mr Bonds has also called for an investigation into what he says has been the cancellation of his political Facebook page by Facebook owner Meta, saying access to his page was restricted in Australia on on April 4 (Monday last week) because of "a legal request".
"A week out from nominations, you can't blame me for being suspicious," Mr Bonds said.
"The ban is permanent and it's on me as a person. It prevents me opening another public page. If I do, I risk having my private Facebook page deleted for 'ban evasion', which is in their terms of service."
He said the ban meant his political page could not be seen in Australia but could be accessed by people looking from overseas.
Mr Bonds gained national attention at the May 18, 2019, federal election, when he ran third to Mr Fitzgibbon (38,331 votes, 37.57 per cent), gaining 22,029 votes (21.59 per cent), only slightly behind National Party candidate Josh Angus, with 23,942 votes (23.47 per cent).
Mr Fitzgibbon retained the seat 52.80 per cent to 47.20 per cent on a two-candidate preferred basis, but Mr Bonds attracted considerable blue collar support in an electorate where many believed that Labor was abandoning its traditional support for the coal industry.
Mr Fitzgibbon is standing down having held the seat since 1996, succeeding his father, Eric Fitzgibbon, who was elected in 1984.
This time around, Labor is standing five-time Olympic shooter Dan Repacholi, and the National Party candidate is Maitland Christian School community relations officer and qualified lawyer, James Thomson.
Mr Bonds had hoped for a second tilt at the seat under the One Nation banner but had a spectacular falling out with the party this time last year.
Relations deteriorated in late March 2021 when Senator Malcolm Roberts voted with the government on its "casual employment" amendments to the Fair Work Act - having previously indicating he would oppose them, given his sustained campaign on coalmining casual employment in the Hunter Valley and Queensland.
A few days later, One Nation NSW upper house member Mark Latham publicly rejected Mr Bonds as a possible by-election candidate for the state seat of Upper Hunter vacated when Nationals MP Michael Johnsen resigned after a "sexting" controversy.
Mr Bonds endorsed Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party candidate Sue Gilroy at the state by-election.
But after talks with the Shooters and the Liberal Democrats, Mr Bonds said today he had decided to stand as an Independent.
"I'm running as an independent to ensure the workers and businesses that have carried this state through thick and thin have a seat at the table," Mr Bonds said just before he lodged his nomination and the required number of signatures with the Australian Electoral Commission in East Maitland.
"Realistically One Nation wasn't even on the radar in the Hunter before 2019.
"They have a foothold in the region because I helped build the foothold.
"I'm grateful for the opportunity and there's no hard feelings towards the party, but it's time to get down to business."
Mr Bonds said he learned of the action against his political Facebook page after visitors to the site "dropped off a cliff and I knew something was wrong".
After searching through files he found a message in his Facebook "notification centre" that said: "Access to your page has been restricted due to a legal request.
"Following a review of a legal request about your page, we have restricted access to it in the following locations:
"Australia.
"We carefully review each request against our policies and conduct a legal and human rights assessment. After this review, we may restrict access to the reported content in the locations where it is alleged to be unlawful."
Mr Bonds said when he pressed the "Learn more" button at the foot of the statement, it asked only if he wanted to delete the message.
"The issue with this ban is there is no recourse and there is no ability to even find out what the ban is for. There's no indication of why or on what grounds the ban was imposed. It's permanent and it's on me as a person. It prevents me opening another public page.
"I believe I have been the victim of a targeted political hit by one of the major parties, (One Nation included) and banned from the largest public square we have on the eve of a federal election.
"How can we have 'free and fair elections' if we are not able to access the same public square to rally support and have the same stump to stand on to give our speeches?"
