A LAST-MINUTE nomination has brought the number of candidates contesting the electorate of Grayndler to eight at the May 21 federal election - apparently including a controversial fifth-generation Queenslander.
Paul Henselin was the final candidate to nominate for the inner west Sydney seat before the April 21 deadline, representing Pauline Hanson's One Nation. While we were unable to contact Mr Henselin despite best efforts, it appears he ran for One Nation in the Queensland seat of Fairfax at the 2019 federal election, and in the Scenic Rim state electorate at the 2020 Queensland election.
As a previous candidate, Paul Henselin made headlines during the 2019 election when he posted a digitally altered image of then Labor leader Bill Shorten wearing an Arab headdress with the slogan "vote for sharia law".
According to the Tally Room website, Mr Henselin was among more than 90 last-minute One Nation candidates nationally. This was in line with the party's decision - announced by Ms Hanson on April 13 - to contest all of the 151 seats in the House of Representatives.
The last time a One Nation candidate ran in Grayndler - which has been held by Labor since the seat's creation in 1949 and is one of its safest - was in 2001, when it drew 2 per cent of the vote.
Political analyst for the Tally Room Ben Raue said it was not uncommon for parties to parachute candidates into distant electorates: "It's pretty much unheard of for people seriously trying to win, but not uncommon for people running in a supportive role for someone else."
The ballot draw for Grayndler, held last Friday at Haymarket, put United Australia Party candidate Father David Smith in the No.1 spot on the ballot paper. At No. 2 is the electorate's 26-year incumbent and potential prime minister Anthony Albanese.
Based on results in Grayndler of recent elections, the Greens candidate Rachael Jacobs will be Labor's main competition, although Ms Jacobs drew the 8th and final spot on the ballot.
The Liberal Party's Ben Zhang is at No. 3; followed in order by Fusion's James Haggerty, Independent Sarina Kilham, One Nation's Paul Henselin, and the Animal Justice Party's Michael Dello-Iacovo at No. 7.
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