Katherine Deves, who gained national attention for her controversial views on transgender women in sport during the 2022 federal election campaign, is making a political comeback. She has been unveiled as a candidate for the New South Wales One Nation party in the 2027 Legislative Council election.
NSW One Nation leader Mike Newman announced Deves as part of the party's upper house ticket alongside construction and mining worker Arnon Wither, mother-of-eight Manti Steele, and teacher Daniel Hill. Newman stated that these candidates represent 'ordinary Australians' rather than 'career politicians'.
Deves's candidacy in 2022 for the seat of Warringah, a move orchestrated by then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison, ignited a significant public debate. Her social media posts, which included a comparison between her advocacy and resistance against Nazis, led to widespread criticism, though she later issued an apology.
During the announcement, Deves criticized the expansion of state bureaucracy and diversity policies. She specifically referenced recent changes to NSW Parliament's workplace guidance concerning breastfeeding and gendered language, stating, "Australian households are worrying about how they're going to pay for Christmas, yet overpaid bureaucrats are debating whether men can breastfeed and become pregnant." She advocated for restoring clear language around biological sex in laws covering anti-discrimination, hate speech, vilification, and birth certificates to ensure safe spaces for women and girls in services and sports.
NSW Premier Chris Minns had previously intervened to reverse the parliamentary guidance, characterizing it as a return to "commonsense."
One Nation plans to contest all 93 seats in the Legislative Assembly in the March 2027 election, with lower house candidates to be revealed in the coming months. The party's upper house ticket is led by Stuart Bonds, who recently faced condemnation for remarks about demographic replacement within Australia, which Premier Minns described as "frankly outrageous and racist."
Despite holding no seats in the NSW Parliament, One Nation has been a frequent subject of discussion, reportedly mentioned approximately 57 times in the Legislative Assembly over three sitting days recently. Recent polling suggests One Nation holds 25 percent of the primary vote in NSW, trailing Labor at 30 percent and the Coalition at 23 percent.