Bombers 2000 Premiership player John Barnes looks on during the round 20 AFL match between Essendon Bombers and Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia on July 25, 2025. Robert Cianflone/Getty Images
One Nation has unveiled its first celebrity candidate for a much-hyped state election as polling shows there has been no electoral boost for Labor following a leader swap.
AFL great John Barnes will contest the seat of Essendon in Melbourne’s north for Pauline Hanson’s conservative-leaning party at the Victorian state election in November.
The former Essendon ruckman and serving Moonee Valley councillor was the most high profile of 10 lower house candidates announced by the party on Aug. 19.
The father of two, who played 202 AFL games, has spoken publicly about the physical and mental toll of his storied playing career.
Citing footy-wrought memory loss, epilepsy and mood swings, Barnes played a leading role in a concussion-related class action against the AFL.
He faces an uphill battle in attempting to wrest Essendon away from Labor, which has controlled the seat for three decades.
It is currently held by outgoing MP Danny Pearson, who secured the seat with a comfortable 12.5 percent margin in 2022.
Other One Nation lower house candidates include Gannawarra Shire Mayor Garner Smith, who will contest Murray Plains, and returning Nepean challenger Darren Hercus.
The announcement came after Senator Hanson visited Melbourne earlier in August to introduce the party’s lead upper house picks and Victorian leader Warren Pickering.
The latest Resolve Political Monitor survey, published in The Age on the same day, showed One Nation’s primary vote had increased one percent to 23 percent, narrowly trailing Labor at 25 percent.
The survey, conducted two weeks after Ben Carroll replaced Jacinta Allan as premier, indicates the leadership change has not given Labor an electoral bounce.
Senior Labor Minister Ingrid Stitt dismissed the result, saying polls would come and go before the election.
“We will be working hard right up until the election to earn the trust of Victorians for a fourth term,” she told reporters.
The Coalition, under leader Jess Wilson, held steady at 27 percent.
The Nationals and Liberals are expected to fight tight battles with One Nation in outer urban and regional seats in November.
In a move to appeal to more regional voters, Wilson on Aug. 19 pledged to cancel the VNI West transmission line and “take immediate action to secure more gas.”
The 500 kilometre high voltage project, designed to connect renewable energy zones in New South Wales and Victoria, has faced sustained backlash from farming groups.
“Victoria doesn’t need more unnecessary poles and wires that bulldoze through regional communities, it needs more gas and more firm generation and that is exactly what my team will deliver,” Wilson said.
By Nick Wilson in Melbourne.
