One Nation leader absent during closing week of byelection campaign for a seat where the party’s preferences will determine the outcome

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Pauline Hanson is out of Australia on holiday in the final week of the Longman byelection as her candidate faces fresh controversy over a damages claim against his tiling company and the apparent sale of the company to an Irish novice labourer, two years after the man had left Australia.



The conservative commentator and Sky News broadcaster Andrew Bolt said on Monday night he had spoken to Hanson, who is on holiday in Ireland. A party spokesman told Sky News Hanson had withdrawn from the hustings because of exhaustion. Hanson told the Courier-Mail that she booked the holiday in February because she was worn out.

One Nation candidate sold debt-laden company to Irish novice labourer who had left Australia Read more

Despite her absence during the closing week of the campaign for a seat where One Nation preferences will determine the outcome, Hanson has been on Facebook appealing for volunteers to hand out how-to-vote cards on Saturday “even if its just for an hour”.

Seat polls suggest Longman is on a knife edge, and the outcome in the seat is being watched closely by Labor strategists because the campaign is a prototype for the national campaign the ALP intends to run at the next federal election.

Labor volunteers in Longman intend to redouble their door-knocking efforts in the closing days of the campaign in an effort to peel protest votes away One Nation, hammering a message about the future funding of government services.

In an effort to rally its own base, the Coalition last week pushed controversy about immigration into the national political spotlight, with the home affairs minister Peter Dutton trumpeting a drop in the permanent intake.

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Strategists in Longman say the result is too close to call, and the contest in the Tasmanian seat of Braddon is no different according to party insiders.

The results on Saturday are important for both leaders, and will set a course for politics over the second half of the year.

The Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese, who made a speech several weeks ago setting out an alternative leadership manifesto for Labor, declared himself “part of Bill Shorten’s team” while campaigning in Western Australia on Monday. A YouGov Galaxy poll published on Monday indicated Labor would be performing more strongly in Longman and Braddon if Albanese was the Labor leader.

Guardian Australia revealed on Monday the One Nation candidate in Longman, Matthew Stephen, tried to avoid a $13,000 court-ordered damages bill against his tiling company by selling the company on paper to an Irish novice labourer, two years after the man had left Australia.

Stephen claims he is no longer responsible for the payment of a $13,769.99 debt, imposed by the Northern Territory local court as damages for a substandard tiling job in 2014, because he sold his company in August 2016 and the new owner agreed to take on the remaining liability.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest Pauline Hanson chats to an elderly local resident as she campaigns with the One Nation candidate for Longman, Matthew Stephen (centre) in Caboolture on 4 July. Photograph: Dan Peled/AAP

Documents lodged by Stephen with Asic state he sold Aus Tile QLD to Irishman Steven O’Donovan two months after the court judgment.

O’Donovan’s ownership of the company is a “non-beneficial” shareholding, meaning on paper he holds the share for the benefit of someone else. The company’s registered address and principal place of business remain Matthew Stephen’s home address.

Darwin builder Phillip Hoare, who took Aus Tile QLD to court, said he still hasn’t been paid about $11,000 of the damages awarded. Hoare complained to Asic that the sale of the business had led to the company being passed on to someone of limited means.

He said he has not been able to find O’Donovan since the sale.