One Nation has named investment banker Mike Newman as its New South Wales leader and its initial lower house candidate for the March 2027 state election. Mr Newman, the son of former ABC chair Maurice Newman, will contest the Hunter seat of Cessnock.
Pauline Hanson was scheduled to hold a press conference on Friday morning alongside Mr Newman to make the announcement. Mr Newman, who previously worked as a trade bureaucrat in Asia, confirmed his candidacy in an interview with News24.
The party's NSW policy platform includes proposals to reduce payroll tax by half, with a complete removal in regional areas. It also plans to freeze the number of public servants and introduce "private sector style KPIs [key performance indicators] into the public service, especially amongst the senior executives." Mr Newman stated, "If you say you’re going to build 20,000 homes, if you don’t build 20,000 homes, you don’t get paid."
Mr Newman, who worked in Japan for 25 years, including three years as Investment NSW’s senior trade and investment commissioner in Tokyo, said he did not believe the party would struggle to connect with migrant communities. He noted, "my wife’s Japanese, so if I thought for even a fleeting second that [One Nation] were racist – all my business partners are Indians who are absolutely patriotic Aussies, I don’t really see that." When asked about fostering social cohesion, Mr Newman said the party aimed to "get rid of wokery."
The seat of Cessnock has been held by Labor for 38 years, with current member Clayton Barr winning the two-party preferred vote in 2023 against One Nation by a margin of 23.4%. A Sydney Morning Herald Resolve poll in July indicated One Nation polling at 25% in NSW, ahead of the Coalition at 23%, with Labor leading at 29%.