NSW Premier Condemns One Nation Candidate Over Outrageous Remarks

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns and the Australian Human Rights Commission have slammed remarks made by Stuart Bonds, who leads the One Nation upper house ticket in the state. Bonds claimed that Australians face demographic replacement unless mass migration is curtailed. The premier described these comments as outrageous, calling the replacement theory an imported conspiracy theory from the United States.

Bonds made the remarks at an anti-immigration rally in Sydney's CBD on Sunday. The gathering drew several hundred people amid a sea of Australian flags, including rightwing figures and at least one neo-Nazi. Bonds told the crowd that the nation was experiencing demographic replacement and warned that the trend would become impossible to reverse without halting mass migration. He also asserted that immigrants could not be considered as fully Australian as citizens with deep generational roots.

The race discrimination commissioner, Giridharan Sivaraman, stated that comments suggesting some Australians are superior to others sow division and hate. Sivaraman noted that ignoring history and shared futures through such rhetoric only fuels exclusion and racism, emphasizing that migrants remain central to the Australian story. Federal multicultural affairs minister Anne Aly also reiterated that individuals with migrant backgrounds are fundamentally Australian.

Stuart Bonds faced sharp condemnation from officials for claiming Australians face demographic replacement.

Minns questioned what portfolio Bonds might hold if the rightwing party formed a government, urging voters to consider the implications of such perspectives. Comment was sought from the Coalition spokesperson on multiculturalism and One Nation's New South Wales headquarters.

Why it matters The controversy impacts state politics and highlights ongoing debates surrounding multiculturalism, migration policies, and political alliances ahead of the upcoming March state election in New South Wales.