One Nation Adviser Says He Was Fired Over Misconduct Concerns
Charles Swindon alleges One Nation dismissed him after he raised concerns about former campaign director Sean Black’s rape conviction and links involving a senior party official. One Nation official Kelvin Morton denies joking about rape, while Black denies continuing to work for the party after his removal.
Former One Nation senior staffer Charles Swindon says the party unlawfully dismissed him after he raised concerns about its ties to a former campaign director convicted of rape and alleged links between a senior official and a strip club. His claims have brought scrutiny to One Nation’s conduct ahead of a Victorian state election.
Swindon, who led the campaign for the party’s first lower-house member elected under its banner, alleged that senior official Kelvin Morton played down former campaign director Sean Black’s rape conviction by calling it “surprise sex.” Morton strongly denies making a joke about rape.
Black was jailed in 2018 for raping and assaulting a former partner. Swindon said One Nation buried his concerns about a fundraising deal involving Black’s company for the Victorian election campaign.
Black claimed on a recording that he continued to provide consulting and fundraising services to the party after he was removed as campaign director in April. He later denied any involvement in One Nation fundraising or consulting after his removal.
Swindon also criticized the party’s handling of concerns about Bianca Colecchia, its Victorian state secretary and federal candidate for Bruce. He alleged she had spent eight years managing a strip club whose chief promoter had previously been accused by police of being a Comanchero bikie gang financier.
“Without exaggeration, it’s a really shady place,” Swindon said in an interview. He described his nearly five months inside the party as “weirdly incompetent, chaotic”.
Swindon also alleged that a senior staffer at party headquarters used a racist slur about an Indigenous journalist who questioned party leader Pauline Hanson during a June press club address.
He said billionaire Gina Rinehart had too much influence over One Nation, alleging that Hanson and chief adviser James Ashby would commonly say, “We’ll check with Gina,” when discussing strategy or public presentation.
Rinehart denied inappropriate involvement in the party and pointed to financial support for the Greens, teal and Labor movements from other wealthy Australians.
Swindon further alleged One Nation threatened to seek repayment of campaign support if David Farley left the party. Farley became the first candidate to win a federal lower-house seat under the party’s banner, and Swindon managed his byelection campaign in the NSW seat of Farrer.
