Stuart Bonds was stepping up to be a voice for Australians who "feel their issues and circumstances are being ignored by major political parties", One Nation said in a statement.

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"This isn't a job that can be sub-contracted out, there is just nobody else in our area willing to stand up for us in the Hunter, so I decided I have to do it," Mr Bonds said in the statement.

He said his major concerns included the threat to the coalmining jobs, the need to invest in jobs and apprenticeships. He also wants to push for more infrastructure projects and common-sense approaches to climate change and immigration policy.

Labor's Joel Fitzgibbon has held the seat since 1996.

The announcement follows a difficult week for Pauline Hanson's party, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week announcing the Liberals would preference One Nation below the Labor Party at the federal election.

It came after an Al Jazeera investigation revealed One Nation had tried to solicit millions of dollars in donations from a US gun lobby last year.

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