A nod to the local bloke who ran for a seat that doesn’t exist
Nate Newell, local mechanic and owner of Star Garage, made headlines this week—not for a scandal, not for a policy gaffe, but for throwing his hat in the ring for a federal seat that technically doesn’t exist.
That seat? Mona Vale (no such thing!)
That campaign? A tongue-in-cheek parody of the seriousness of everything.
That message? Maybe we’ve forgotten how to laugh at ourselves.
In between fixing suspensions and mentoring his apprentice son Zach, Nate whipped up a few corflutes and parked them alongside the actual candidates in Mackellar. No flashy slogans, just the stuff that matters: dogs on beaches, heavy metal in the air, and roads without craters.
And wouldn’t you know it? The locals loved it.
People called to ask where they could vote for him. Photos with kids, selfies with real candidates, and a groundswell of people saying what we all think from time to time: why not the bloke from the garage?
“I reckon it’s just about giving people a bit of a laugh,” Nate told the Manly Observer, leaning on the Falcon like it was the national emblem. “And hey—if we fixed a few potholes and gave dogs a bit more beach, no harm done.”
There’s something deeply Australian about the whole thing. Not just the dry humour or the garage grit, but the quiet reminder that sometimes leadership isn’t about being the loudest voice in the room. It’s about knowing the room (and not taking yourself too seriously).
No, Nate won’t be heading to Canberra. But in a week where political theatre was at full tilt, a humble mechanic and his corflutes reminded us of something more grounded: politics doesn’t always have to be polished to be powerful.
So here’s to Nate.
To beach-loving dogs.
To blasting heavy metal over empty promises.
And to keeping just enough cheek in the system to stop us taking it too far.
Make Australia Nate Again.
Even if it’s just for a weekend.
Based on https://manlyobserver.com.au/nate-newell-woes-public-vote-with-dogs-heavy-metal-and-fixing-cars/
The Afterword 
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