A newly announced One Nation candidate has been scolded by Pauline Hanson for speaking Japanese at his official unveiling.
Former NSW trade commissioner Mike Newman will stand as the party's lead candidate and run in the traditionally Labor voting seat of Cessnock in the Hunter Valley.
Newman admitted he had not lived in the state for 25 years but refused to answer questions about moving to the seat he will contest.
During a press conference in Singleton, he responded in Japanese to a question from a foreign media outlet before being told off by his boss.
"I think everyone else might appreciate [English]," Senator Hanson told her candidate.
Newman continued to answer the question on how a One Nation government would support Asian investment in Japanese before translating into English.
'My wife's Japanese'
Despite the One Nation leader's calls for a "monoculture" and her infamous 1996 speech in parliament where she spoke of the danger of being "swamped by Asians", the candidate shut down suggestions his party had a culture of racism.
"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," Newman told News24 separately.
The candidate also said NSW should look to the US as an example of how to foster a competitive economy.
"What we're trying to do is, like Florida and Texas, make NSW so competitive we have companies move here." Newman told reporters.
One of Newman's policies would be to slash payroll tax and completely axe the scheme in the regions.
"We'll be focusing on issues which matter in NSW like the cost of living, our housing crisis and the neglect of our regional communities and rural industries under Labor," he said.
"We will prioritise policy settings which create a much better environment for businesses so they can focus on what they do best – create jobs, grow the economy and increase prosperity in our state."
Region reliant on manufacturing trains
Senator Hanson confirmed serial One Nation candidate and coal miner Stuart Bonds would lead her upper house ticket.
The 40-year-old cattle farmer, who hails from the Hunter region, announced he would campaign on issues affecting primary industries.
The state election is slated for March 13, 2027.
Labor's Maitland MP Jenny Aitchison said the hopefuls joined a party with a poor track record in the Hunter.
"One Nation's new leader wants to represent the Hunter, but Mr Newman and his own party don't seem to believe there's a future for train manufacturing in the Hunter," she said.
She called on Newman to explain if he supported One Nation's position on whether trains should be built in the Hunter Region instead of overseas.
Newman's running mate, Bonds, had publicly criticised the government's multi-billion-dollar investment to return train manufacturing to the state, she said.
"They talk a big game about Australian jobs, but when we make the decision to bring those jobs home, their answer is to send the work overseas … backing Australian workers means actually giving Australian workers the work, it can't just be a slogan," she said.
Former deputy premier John Barilaro appointed Newman as NSW's senior investment commissioner to Japan and Korea in 2021.
He left the role shortly before the Minns government axed the position, and has spent decades working around the world in financial services.
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