ANY speculation on whether Pauline Hanson's One Nation's Stuart Bonds would have a tilt at state politics in the Upper Hunter by-election has been put to rest.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
State party leader Mark Latham stated on Monday Mr Bonds wasn't being considered for the upcoming vote.
Mr Bonds said while his preference was to stay as the federal candidate, he would be open to discussion with the PHON NSW branch if they showed interest.
However, his recent disagreements with senators Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts over their support of controversial new industrial relations laws, and subsequent threats to quit the party, has made the decision easier for Mr Latham.
"Stuart has been a federal candidate and recently was questioning whether he was staying with One Nation so it wouldn't be appropriate for him to run for this by-election," Mr Latham said.
The state and federal branches remain quite separate by Mr Bonds own admission, and the fact he has not been contacted has not come as a surprise to the Singleton coalminer.
The state-level snub means he will continue to focus on federal matters, as he again eyes up the seat of Hunter at the next federal election, which is something he believes will please many people.
"At the moment I'm still sitting in the federal camp, I think there would be a lot of people who would sigh an extremely large sigh of relief if I was to run in state and was lucky enough to be chosen as the representative," he said.
