Tamworth gun maker Jeff Bacon has been announced as second on One Nation’s upper house ticket for the NSW state election in March 2027, and he wants to scrap the state’s new gun laws.
One Nation NSW leader Mike Newman named Mr Bacon as a candidate on Saturday, 3 October, ahead of a day of gun focused events and fundraisers for the party in Tamworth.
The gun maker and diesel mechanic from a farm upbringing sits behind Singleton cattle farmer and coal miner Stuart Bonds on the ticket. The party has named just three candidates so far: Mr Newman in Cessnock, Mr Bonds, and now Mr Bacon.
This is Mr Bacon’s third party and second political candidacy since 2019. He first ran for state parliament in 2019 for the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers (SFF) Party. He took on Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson and won 16.2 per cent of the vote.
In 2023, he quit the SFF and joined the NSW Nationals. He said he did not like the SFF lining up with Labor.
“I don’t think this is all that controversial to be honest,” he said.
Mr Bacon had once called Mr Anderson a “hypocrite”. Even so, Mr Anderson welcomed him to the party. At the time, Mr Bacon did not rule out a tilt at the Tamworth seat.
“Eventually absolutely I would love to put my hand up for a position if it were to become available in the future, but for now I don’t see that happening,” he said.
By 2025, he had left the Nationals for One Nation. As many as eight Nationals from Tamworth branches made the same move. It came as One Nation leader Pauline Hanson set up the party’s New England branch in Tamworth.
“Feedback I’m receiving is that a key reason members from the Nationals are shifting across is the inaction on renewable (intermittent) energy projects, which are affecting every corner of the electorate,” Mr Bacon said at the time.
Mr Newman said Mr Bacon holds patents and registered designs for gun technology in Australia, Europe, and the United States.
“Jeff will bring the expertise and advocacy NSW so desperately needs,” Mr Newman said.
Mr Bacon said the new laws had hurt his trade.
“The Minns Labor government has decimated the firearms industry and brought a $2 billion industry to its knees with sales down 80 per cent,” he said.
“It is impossible to do business like this for farmers, professional shooters and recreational hunters.”
“Law-abiding people are being punished for an act of radical Islamic terrorism on Bondi Beach.”
“One Nation will repeal the firearms element of the Terrorism and Other Legislation Amendment Act, restoring rights to what they were when we had a functioning system before December last year, when the Minns Government and the Liberal Party rushed legislation through on Christmas Eve.”
He said the Minns Government was dangerously naive about gun laws.
“No criminal has been asked to hand back their guns,” he said. “The Premier told an estimates hearing that new firearm laws specifically target legal firearms.”
Mr Bacon said he was honoured to stand for the people of NSW.
“I am proud of what Oceania Precision has achieved in designing and manufacturing world-class products in Tamworth,” he said.
“I hope, if given the great honour of being elected, this experience allows me to help others by overturning this legislation that treats law-abiding people like criminals.”
The party has not yet named candidates for the Northern Tablelands, Tamworth or Barwon.
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