In 2023, a young and ambitious Liberal moderate was on the brink of securing one of the most powerful roles in the party: state director of the New South Wales branch. Three years later, he is playing a key role in selecting and vetting One Nation candidates determined to beat his former colleagues.
Multiple Liberal sources familiar with recruitment for the position, which involves running election campaigns and managing fundraising, confirm Mark Jones was among the final three candidates for the role before his career advancement was ultimately blocked.
Internal One Nation documents seen by Guardian Australia show Jones – who quit the Liberal party in January – has become integral to One Nation’s state election campaigns performing similar administrative functions.
Since joining One Nation as a political consultant in February, Jones has helped redesign the party’s candidate selection and vetting process and sat in on interviews. He is being assisted by former Queensland National party executive Susie Douglas, who briefly worked for the Palmer United Party before quitting and describing it as a cult.
The changes have not stopped One Nation endorsing several state candidates with controversial backgrounds, however. These include a former Liberal who has won support from alleged underworld figures, a naturopath who has endorsed Donald Trump’s unfounded claim that paracetamol is linked to autism and a former shire councillor who lost his licence for drink-driving.
On Sunday, the One Nation candidate for Melbourne, Matthew Collins, resigned and apologised for now deleted comments on social media regarding a number of issues including sexual consent and pornographic jokes. A party spokesperson said the comments were “offensive”.
Guardian Australia can reveal One Nation has also overhauled its candidate selection process in NSW after being criticised by some members in Victoria for lengthy delays and a lack of democratic decision making.
Victorian applicants who were invited to short online interviews with Jones and Douglas were surprised to find the state party leader, Warren Pickering, was also in attendance. Internal documents show the three-person team was a “selection committee”. Endorsement decisions were made after police and credit checks.
In NSW, 20-30 minute interviews are now being conducted by Jones and Douglas alone, who then make recommendations to a three-person selection committee that does not include them. The committee members are the NSW leader, Mike Newman, the state president, Rebecca Thompson, and the state secretary, Sam Donovan.
These online interviews test candidate ideas for the future of the state, their knowledge of the parliamentary system and how they could contribute to a future One Nation government.
“You are expected to address each of these matters,” states a document seen by Guardian Australia. “Please treat this invitation and your participation in the selection process as confidential. Please do not announce or publish your participation at this stage.”
In Victoria, applicants were first screened with a 25-page form that included detailed questions including whether someone had been subject to court proceedings or accused of bullying and verbal abuse. In NSW, this has been streamlined to a much shorter online questionnaire.
The NSW branch has also introduced a requirement for candidates to include a 60-second video of themselves outlining why they want to join the party, after finding Victorian candidates who looked good on paper but were not up to scratch when interviewed.
These changes may not be enough to satisfy some One Nation members who would like branches to have a greater say in who is selected to represent their regions.
In September, Newman said One Nation had already received 900 applications for 93 NSW seats. Earlier this month, the party called for more applications before the 31 October deadline.
Before interviews are conducted, applicants must sign restrictive non-disclosure agreements that are not imposed by any other parties. This stops them from publicly confirming their applications.
A copy of a non-disclosure agreement used in NSW confirms candidates may be held financially liable should they share or fail to appropriately secure confidential party information.
From moderate Liberal to One Nation whisperer
Guardian Australia has spoken to several NSW Liberal sources who described Jones as a professional operator who retains close ties to the party.
Some expressed frustration he no longer worked for the Liberals and disappointment that a moderate would help One Nation’s campaigns against his former colleagues.
Jones is a former deputy chief of staff to the NSW Liberal minister Don Harwin, who was a leading moderate at the time. He was also an unsuccessful Liberal candidate for the state seat of Shellharbour in 2015.
After leaving state parliament in 2019, Jones joined the lobbying firm PremierNational and worked alongside another moderate powerbroker, Michael Photios.
In early 2026, Jones formed his own political consultancy firm with his wife, Shani, who also previously worked for a NSW Liberal minister and has since been contracted to One Nation.
South Australian electoral records show that firm, Camelot Consulting, was paid more than $100,000 for services to One Nation during the state election in March. It is not yet known how much money Camelot has earned from the party in NSW and Victoria.
Documents seen by Guardian Australia show Douglas is working as “candidate selection officer”. She describes herself as a “former senior vice president of the National party in Queensland”.
After serving as an independent councillor on the Gold Coast, Douglas unsuccessfully contested the federal seat of McPherson in Queensland for the Palmer United party in 2013.
A year later, she told the Gold Coast Bulletin that Clive Palmer’s party was “a bit like being in a cult – everyone in his group looks up to him”.
One Nation, Jones and Douglas declined to comment.
