newy.com.au – One Nation has installed former NSW trade commissioner Mike Newman as its state leader and candidate for Cessnock, putting Hunter energy and manufacturing jobs at the centre of its campaign for the 2027 election.
Senator Pauline Hanson unveiled Mr Newman at Singleton Golf Club on Friday alongside federal MP Barnaby Joyce and coal industry worker and cattle farmer Stuart Bonds, who will lead the party’s Legislative Council ticket.
The announcement was followed by a fundraising lunch at the golf club, for which about 300 tickets were sold. Senator Hanson later appeared at another sold-out fundraiser at Toronto Hotel, where members of under 18 climate group Youth Rising gathered outside in protest.
Mr Newman, 54, spent about 25 years working in Japan and held senior positions with several finance companies before serving as NSW senior trade and investment commissioner for North Asia from 2021 to 2024. He now represents HunterNet in Japan and South Korea, helping Hunter businesses pursue investment and export opportunities.
His residential connection to Cessnock immediately became an issue. Asked whether he had moved from Sydney and would live in the electorate, Mr Newman said he was “living in the region” but did not specify where.
Labor’s Cessnock MP Clayton Barr contrasted his own local background with that of his challenger, saying voters would choose between a “born and bred local” and someone from outside the electorate. Mr Newman has established professional links to Hunter industry, but has not publicly detailed a long-term residential or community connection to Cessnock.
Mr Newman used his first appearance as leader to propose abolishing payroll tax for regional businesses and halving it in metropolitan areas. He also backed retaining coal-fired electricity generation, keeping Eraring Power Station open and removing NSW restrictions on uranium mining and nuclear power.
He said he would be prepared to host a nuclear power station and waste facility in the Hunter after community consultation. One Nation has not nominated a site or released costings, a timetable or a detailed waste management proposal.
The party also opened a dispute with the Minns government over Labor’s proposed $12 billion Hunter train-manufacturing program.
Labor plans to establish a state-owned factory operated by a private manufacturer, beginning with replacement Tangara trains and continuing with other Sydney fleets over several decades. Teralba and the Broadmeadow Locomotive Depot have been shortlisted as potential sites, with the government estimating the program could support 780 construction jobs and 550 ongoing factory and supply chain positions.
Mr Bonds has criticised government ownership of the proposed factory and raised the prospect of working with Korean manufacturers. Mr Newman said Korean government support and low interest finance could instead establish a Hunter operation for about $3 billion, with “100 per cent” of manufacturing undertaken in the region.
Regional Transport Minister Jenny Aitchison and Mr Barr accused One Nation of risking local jobs by sending work offshore. One Nation disputes that description, saying its proposal would use Korean backing to manufacture trains in the Hunter.
Labor has held Cessnock almost continuously since 1927, and Mr Barr secured 73.4 per cent of the final two-candidate vote against One Nation in 2023.
