Q&A: Nikole Schellekens, One Nation

EXPERIENCE

1. Tell us a little about yourself. Where did you grow up, where do you live now, and what brought you to the Bass electorate?

I was born in Tooradin and have lived in the Bass electorate area for most of my life. I now live on a beef farm in Bass with my husband and our two children. I went to Tooradin primary school, Koo-Wee-Rup high school, rode horses in Bayles and Catani. 

This is home for me. I’ve raised my family here, worked here, run businesses here and spent years volunteering in local community organisations.

I love that Bass is such a diverse electorate. We have growing communities around Clyde and Koo Wee Rup, productive farming country, towns like Wonthaggi and beautiful coastal communities right through to Phillip Island.

I didn’t move here to run for politics. I’m running for politics because this is my home and I want to make sure the communities I know and love have a strong voice in Spring Street.

2. What work have you done before entering politics? 

My background is probably a little different from the typical politician!

I’m a qualified mental health social worker and have worked for more than 20 years across mental health, education and community services. I have a Bachelor of Social Work and a Master of Mental Health and am an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker.

I’ve worked in public mental health, community services, schools and private practice, including many years working with military veterans.

I’m also a small business owner and founder of AgMind Australia, through which I work with farmers and agricultural communities around mental health and wellbeing.

Outside paid work, I’ve spent many years volunteering and serving on community organisations, including as President of San Remo Preschool.

And alongside all of that, my family runs a beef farm in Bass.

3. What experience or qualities would you bring to the job of being the MP for Bass? 

Real-world experience. I’ve managed teams and budgets, run small businesses, worked in frontline services and sat around community committee tables where people have had to solve problems without endless resources.

My work as a social worker has also taught me to listen before assuming I know the answer. Sometimes the person sitting opposite you understands the problem far better than government does.

I’m comfortable talking to farmers, business owners, families, community groups and frontline workers, and I’m equally comfortable sitting across the table from government departments and asking difficult questions.

Most importantly, I know this electorate. I’ve been involved in this community for years, long before I became a political candidate.

I’m not looking for a political career. I’m asking people to give me the opportunity to represent the community I already call home.

POLITICAL

4. Have you been a candidate in state or federal elections before? If yes, please give details. 

No. This is my first state or federal election.

I did stand for Bass Coast Shire Council in 2024. I narrowly missed being elected, but the experience taught me an enormous amount about campaigning, local government and, most importantly, what people across our communities want from their representatives.

That campaign also reinforced something for me: people are tired of only hearing from politicians at election time. They want representatives who are visible, accessible and willing to listen all year round.

5. When did you join your party and why?

I joined One Nation because, after looking seriously at the political options available, it was the party that most closely aligned with my values and what I believe our communities need.

I believe government needs to get back to basics: safe communities, functioning hospitals and schools, affordable energy, housing and infrastructure that keep pace with population growth, support for farmers and small businesses, and responsible management of taxpayers’ money.

I also believe people are increasingly frustrated with the cycle of Labor and Liberal governments promising change while many of the same problems continue.

One Nation gives me the opportunity to challenge that status quo while still being a strong local representative.

I’m proud to represent the party, but the people of Bass will always know exactly where I stand.

6. Why did you decide to stand for Parliament at this election?

Because I got tired of complaining about things and decided I was prepared to put my hand up and do something about them.

I also looked at who was running in my electorate and realised that I had no one that would represent my values, or the values and needs of my family.

I’m watching families work incredibly hard and still struggle with everyday costs. Our population is growing rapidly but roads, hospitals, schools and public transport aren’t keeping pace. Small businesses and farmers are carrying increasing costs and regulation, and people are losing confidence that government is spending their money wisely.

I’ve spent much of my life working in roles where you help people solve problems. Politics, at its best, should be another form of service.

I also think Parliament needs more people who have lived and worked in the real world, rather than people whose entire career has been politics.

7. What is the single major issue for you at this election?

Getting government back to basics.

Almost every issue people raise with me comes back to that. Can I afford my power bill? Can I see a doctor? Will an ambulance come? Are there enough police? Why is the road falling apart? Can my kids afford a house? Why is infrastructure always playing catch-up?

At the same time, Victoria is carrying enormous debt and taxpayers deserve to know where their money is going.

For me, good government isn’t about announcing the biggest, most expensive or flashiest project. It’s about getting the fundamentals right and spending public money responsibly.

I want to see essential services, community safety and infrastructure prioritised, particularly in regional and rapidly growing communities like ours.

8. Which three of your party’s policies do you believe will most benefit people in the Bass electorate? 

First, cost of living and energy. Families, farmers and small businesses across Bass are being hit hard by rising everyday costs, and affordable, reliable energy is fundamental to addressing that.

Second, community safety. One Nation’s law and order policy focuses on police, courts and consequences: properly resourcing police, improving the capacity of the courts and strengthening consequences for serious and repeat offending.

Third, responsible government spending and investment in essential services. Victoria needs to understand the true state of its finances, identify waste and unnecessary bureaucracy and put taxpayers’ money back into the things government should be getting right: healthcare, education, roads, emergency services and infrastructure.

Those priorities matter whether you live in Clyde, Koo Wee Rup, Wonthaggi, San Remo, Phillip Island or one of our smaller rural communities.

9. The Bass electorate includes areas of Melbourne’s outer suburban fringe through farming country to coastal towns and Phillip Island. How would you make sure the very different interests of all these communities are heard and represented?

By showing up. You cannot properly represent Bass from an office in Melbourne. It is an incredibly diverse electorate and the issues facing a family in Clyde can be very different from those facing a farmer near Lang Lang or a business owner on Phillip Island.

Over the campaign I’ve made a point of travelling throughout the electorate, meeting community groups, businesses, farmers, sporting clubs and residents. That wouldn’t stop after an election.

I’d want regular opportunities for people across the electorate to speak directly with me, not just those who know how to navigate government or write the best submission.

My job wouldn’t be to tell communities what their priorities should be, they are experts in their own towns. My job would be to listen, understand the evidence, advocate strongly and make sure smaller communities aren’t forgotten simply because they have fewer votes.

10. This electorate has some of Victoria's most significant coastal areas, wetlands, woodlands and wildlife habitat. How do you see the balance between protecting the environment and accommodating housing, industry, agriculture and population growth?

I don’t think we should pretend we have to choose one or the other.

Bass is growing and people need homes, jobs, roads and services. We also need sand, stone and other resources to build that infrastructure. At the same time, we have extraordinary coastlines, wetlands, woodlands and some of Victoria’s best agricultural land. Once some of those assets are lost, we don’t get them back.

I support practical, evidence-based environmental protection alongside sensible development.

I’m particularly passionate about protecting productive agricultural land. Housing growth should be planned alongside infrastructure rather than simply pushing development further into farmland and worrying about roads, schools and services later.

Good planning should involve communities, landholders, farmers, industry and environmental groups early. Balance isn’t achieved by automatically saying yes or no. It comes from making sensible decisions based on evidence and long-term consequences.

VALUES

11. Political decisions often involve competing interests. What personal values would guide your decision making?

Integrity, fairness, accountability and community.

I think people should be able to ask their MP why they made a decision and receive a straight answer, even if they disagree with it.

My professional background has taught me that complicated problems rarely have perfect solutions. You listen to different perspectives, look at the evidence, consider who will be affected and then make the best decision you can.

I also believe strongly in personal responsibility. If I get something wrong, I’ll own it. If I don’t know something, I’ll say so and find out.

I won’t tell one group one thing and another group something different because it is politically convenient.

People don’t have to agree with me on everything, but they should always know where I stand.

12. Is there something you believe in strongly enough to stand up for, even when it might be unpopular with voters, or go against your party platform? 

Absolutely. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be much point electing me.

I joined One Nation because its values and direction strongly align with my own, and I’m proud to stand for the party. But if the people of Bass elect me, I also have a duty to represent them.

One thing I believe strongly in is honest representation. If I genuinely believed a decision was wrong for Bass, I would say so, argue my case and be prepared to stand my ground, even if that was difficult or unpopular.

That also means being honest about what I can deliver. I won’t make promises simply because an election is approaching, tell different groups what they want to hear, or stay quiet on something I believe is wrong because speaking up might be uncomfortable.

I’ve never been particularly good at keeping quiet when something matters to me, and politics isn’t going to change that.

Bass before politics. Every decision. Every day.

PERSONAL

13. What do you like most about living in the Bass electorate? 

The combination of people and place.

I can be feeding cattle at home in Bass in the morning, standing on the San Remo foreshore 

later that day and then be in Wonthaggi, Koo Wee Rup or Phillip Island meeting completely different communities.

We have beaches, farmland, small towns, major tourism destinations and rapidly growing communities all within one electorate.

But what I probably love most is the community spirit. When something needs doing, people turn up. Our sporting clubs, CFA brigades, community groups, Landcare groups, schools and local organisations are full of people giving their time simply because they care about where they live.

That sense of community is something worth protecting as Bass continues to grow.

14. Where do you take visitors on their first visit to our region?

That’s actually difficult because there are too many choices!

I’d probably start around San Remo and Phillip Island because there’s so much to show someone who hasn’t been here before. The coastline is spectacular, and you can very quickly understand why people fall in love with this part of Victoria.

But I’d also want them to get off the main tourist route.

Drive through the farming country, stop in our smaller towns, head through Kilcunda, Wonthaggi and Inverloch and actually see the diversity of the electorate.

We also love driving in the Bass hills, the views are spectacular!

I think the best way to understand Bass is to spend a day driving through it. You very quickly realise why a one-size-fits-all approach to representing this electorate simply doesn’t work.

15. Do you have a pet project that you hope to achieve as the MP for Bass? 

I probably have too many!

One is the San Remo Emergency Services Precinct. As that area continues to grow, I want us planning ahead and properly investigating how our emergency services can be brought together and supported into the future.

I’m also passionate about securing the future of the National Vietnam Veterans Museum. It is an extraordinary community and national asset, largely driven by volunteers, and I want to see a clear pathway established to progress its future development.

And after the loss of major international motorsport events from Phillip Island, strengthening the Phillip Island and San Remo visitor economy is incredibly important to me. We need to be looking at new events, better use of the Grand Prix Circuit and ways to keep visitors in our region longer.

With more announcements to come!

So one pet project? I’m afraid Bass is getting the whole list!

16. If you weren’t campaigning, what would you rather be doing on a Sunday morning?

Probably still doing about six things at once!

Life before campaigning was already pretty full. I work, run a small business, do admin that 

never seems to end, see clients including military veterans I’ve worked with for years, help run our farm, raise two kids with my husband, volunteer in the community and occasionally attempt to keep the house under control.

So a Sunday morning could be feeding cattle, catching up on work, taking the kids somewhere, seeing family or, on a good day, having a hot chocolate with nowhere we urgently need to be.

Campaigning has been squeezed in around all of that, which has certainly made life full and interesting, in all the right ways!

If I’m elected, that changes. Representing Bass becomes my full-time job and my priority.