Pauline Hanson interrupts new One Nation NSW leader Mike Newman as he answers investor in fluent Japanese

One Nation’s pick for the next NSW Premier has laughed off an interruption from Pauline Hanson, after he answered a question at a press conference in Japanese. 

Hanson unveiled the man she hopes will shake up New South Wales politics on Friday.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Pauline Hanson interrupts One Nation’s new NSW leader Mike Newman

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Mike Newman, an investment banker and son of a former ABC chair, will contest the Hunter seat of Cessnock.

He showed off his language skills, after being asked by a Japanese journalist about business confidence.

He started the answer in Japanese, before Hanson interjected “Excuse me. I think everyone else might….”

 “I’ll translate after. I’ll translate right after,” he said.

Newman worked in Japan for 25 years, including as the NSW Senior Trade & Investment Commissioner, based in Tokyo.

Pauline Hanson interrupts new NSW Liberal leader Mike Newman as he responds fluently in Japanese to a question from a Japanese investor. Credit: 7NEWS

One Nation has kick-started its state election campaign in the Hunter Valley, promising to bring back coal and making it easier to do business with regional voters at front of mind.

He was joined by Hanson and Barnaby Joyce at a Singleton drilling firm and says if he took on the top job, he would cut payroll tax entirely for the regions, and in half for metropolitan businesses to encourage more employment.

The newly appointed One Nation leader vowed to “get coal mining back up” and scrap net‑zero targets, arguing cheap energy is essential to revive local manufacturing and jobs..

Hanson warned: “His policies will actually put both the Labor Party and the Coalition on notice that the people of New South Wales have had enough of the direction they’ve been taking.”

Renewable energy zones are also in the firing line with New England MP Barnaby Joyce wanting them “dead and buried in the swamps with the mammoths”. 

Newman will run in Cessnock, a longtime Labor seat held by Clayton Barr. 

But he dodged questions around if he lives in the region.

“Well, I’m in the region and, to be honest, I’ve been living in Japan for the last 25 years, so actually I’ve probably been living in Japan longer than Sydney,” he said.

Hanson said regardless of his 25 years in Japan, he “knows the issues here, and he’s always kept his eye on politics here in Australia, constantly, all the time”.