Former Liberal Mark Jones helps redesign One Nation's candidate vetting
Mark Jones, a former New South Wales Liberal, has helped redesign One Nation's process for choosing and vetting its candidates, The Guardian reports. The paper describes Jones as instrumental in the party's expansion.
Jones quit the Liberal Party in January and joined One Nation as a political consultant in February. In 2023 he was one of the final three candidates for the Liberal Party's top paid staff job in New South Wales, the state director.
Jones sits in on candidate interviews. He is assisted by Susie Douglas, a former Queensland National Party executive. Douglas briefly worked for the Palmer United Party before quitting and describing it as a cult.
The two run the process differently by state. In Victoria, a three-person selection committee made up of Jones, Douglas and state leader Warren Pickering interviews candidates. Endorsement, the party's formal approval to stand at an election, is decided after police and credit checks. Applicants there filled in a 25-page form that asked about court proceedings and accusations of bullying and verbal abuse.
In New South Wales, Jones and Douglas alone conduct interviews of 20 to 30 minutes. They then make recommendations to a selection committee of Mike Newman, Rebecca Thompson and Sam Donovan. The Victorian form has been streamlined in New South Wales into a shorter online questionnaire.
The vetting process has come under scrutiny after Matthew Collins, a One Nation candidate for Melbourne, resigned and apologised for deleted social media comments about sexual consent and pornographic jokes.
Jones's wife, Shani Jones, is also involved in the party's work. The Sydney Morning Herald has described the pair as an ex-Liberal couple crafting One Nation's campaign strategy. Both worked in senior roles for ministers from the Liberal Party's moderate faction, one of its internal groupings.
