Former South Australian One Nation candidate, Aoi Baxter, has been dumped by the rightwing party, after media reports claiming there is a warrant for his arrest in the UK.
Baxter, who was reportedly previously known as Trent Baxter, had allegedly failed to appear at a court hearing, according to reporting by the ABC. A UK court confirmed to the ABC a warrant had been issued for the arrest of a man named Trent Baxter.
The former candidate for the state seat of Adelaide was allegedly charged in September 2023 with sexually touching a woman without consent, according to the ABC report.
The revelations come on the eve of the South Australian state election on Saturday where One Nation has seen a groundswell of popularity. The Liberal party has announced it will direct its preferences to One Nation, despite the minor party opting to run open tickets on their how-to-vote cards.
In a statement provided to Guardian Australia on Friday, One Nation said Baxter had not disclosed the warrant for his arrest to the party.
“Mr Baxter is no longer a One Nation candidate as a result of this news,” One Nation said.
“One Nation conducted a nation-wide police check on Mr Baxter as it does with all candidates. No issues were discovered.”
The party has said it will “cooperate fully with law enforcement”, and that it has not been able to contact Baxter.
Baxter’s candidate page on the website has now been scrubbed, with a message instead reading, “Maybe Albo broke the internet (again), or maybe the page you were looking for was just not found on our amazing new website.”
Before it was taken down, the party described Baxter as bringing a blend of “real-world experience to politics”, and said he had spent time in the Australian defence force and small business operations, as well as volunteering with the Rotary, Disaster Relief Australia, and the Movember campaign.
Baxter’s social media and LinkedIn profiles show him as a “creative director” for Aoi Studio. He made headlines in recent weeks for being a late addition to One Nation’s ticket, only having moved to North Adelaide in mid-2025.
Baxter was contacted for comment.
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