Mark Aldridge is an Australian perennial candidate, political activist, car yard operator and animal welfare advocate. He has ran unsuccessfully in multiple federal, state and local government elections.[1]
Aldridge ran as a One Nation candidate in South Australia for the Senate. He received 0.06% of the first preference vote.[3]
2010 South Australian State Election
In 2010 Aldrige ran as an independent for the Upper House in the South Australian state election, during which time he was arrested. He subsequently ran a campaign to have the election result overturned and a new election held, including collecting more than a thousand statements and dispositions, and being featured by Channel 7's Today Tonight.[4]
2012 Seat of Ramsay By-Election
Aldridge ran as an independent in the 2012 Ramsay by-election following the resignation of incumbent and former premier Mike Rann[5] He received 16.1% of the first preference vote (33.3% of the Two-party-preferred vote), coming second to Zoe Bettison who received 54.6% of the primary vote (66.7% of the two-party-preferred vote).[5]
2013 Federal Election
Aldrige ran as an independent for the lower house seat of Wakefield in the 2013 Federal Election. He received 4.1% of the first preference vote.[6] Aldridge was arrested again during the campaign, claiming he did not know why he was arrested,[7] and was later charged with firearms offences. He stated that he planned to sue the state government for $100,000 for false arrest.[8] He documented the arrest using his "secret camera watch", and claimed to have been "bruised and battered".[7]
2014 South Australian State Election
Aldridge ran as an independent upper house candidate for the 2014 South Australian Election.[9] He received 0.3% of the first preference vote.[10]
2016 Federal Election
in the 2016 Australian Federal Election, Aldridge ran as an independent in the South Australian seat of Makin. He suggested that the Nick Xenophon Team candidate may not be a real candidate because he was not present on the campaign trail, before it was revealed that the candidate had been diagnosed with bowel cancer and was forced to have a major operation, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. [11] He received 2/26% of the vote.[12] He also received a dishonorable mention in The Advertiser's 2016 'Off the Record's Awards' for "turning a blind eye to his few supporters' misogynist remarks about female journalists." [13]
Aldridge ran again for the Seat of Ramsay in 2018 and received 6.9% of first preference votes.[15]Nick Xenophon's SA-Best Party lodged a complaint to the Electoral Commissioner of South Australia for Aldridge's use of the slogan "SA's Best Candidate", accusing him of misleading voters.[16][17]
2019 Federal Election
In the 2019 Australian Federal Election, Mark Aldridge ran as the top South Australian senate candidate for The Great Australian Party, newly established by former One Nations Senator Rod Culleton,[18] receiving 1.16% of the primary vote.[19]
2022 Australian Federal Election
Aldridge did not run at the 2022 Australian Federal Election, but was the national director of the Australian Federation Party, which later changed it name to Trumpet of Patriots as part of a merger between the two parties in 2024.[20] One of the Australian Federation Party candidates, Malcolm Heffernan, was referred to the Australian Federal Police after it was revealed he was simultaneously running as a candidate for One Nation.[21] Aldridge described the situation as a "mixup", stating “We had his WA seat (Brand) available, I did a bit of research from him [Heffernan], found him to be half reasonable. and so we endorsed him and filed the paperwork correctly” .[22]
2023 Voice Referendum
Aldridge was singled out by online verification service RMIT CrossCheck for spreading misinformation about the 2023 Voice Referendum when he stated that the voice could be expanded to have veto powers as a "black parliament".[23]
2025 Federal Election
Aldridge ran as a Trumpet of Patriots candidate in the South Australian seat of Makin, but resigned from the party several days before the election due to disagreements with party strategies, such as mass SMS marketing. He stated that if he was elected, the "honorable thing" would be to rejoin the party.[24][25][26] He received 4.02% of the vote.[27]
March for Australia Rally
Aldridge was one of the organisers of the 2025 Adelaide March For Australia rally, which was "hijacked" by Neo-Nazi's.[28] Aldrige stated that the event was about "mass immigration at a time when Aussies are struggling" [29][30] and that "neo-Nazis had infiltrated at the very beginning of the protest"[31]
United Voice Australia Party
Aldridge is the leader of the United Voice Australia Party, which was established in 2025.[32]
Defamation case
In the landmark defamation case Johnston v Aldridge, the District Court of South Australia ordered Aldrige to pay $100,000 in damages, including aggravated damages, after finding him liable for defamatory comments posted on his Facebook page.
Mark Aldridge was embroiled in a dispute with Benjamin Johnson - who was the former owner of Pooraka fruit and vegetable shop - over the approval process of fruit and vegetable markets in Salisbury. In a Facebook post in November 2015, Aldridge alleged that Johnston was "intent on closing farmers markets in Australia" and that "thousands of good hardworking Australians will lose, they will lose jobs, farms and businesses". In a separate post in February 2016, Aldridge stated that "[Johnson] is still trying as hard as he can to shut Farm Direct".[33] Both posts attracted many further comments by followers of Aldridge, with similar sentiments to his original posts.
During the case, Aldridge pleaded that he bore no liability for the comments on his posts. The Court found that by publishing the posts, Aldridge had provided a forum for other users to add their comments, and that Aldridge had participated in the publication of the comments, similarly to a website forum host acting as a secondary publisher. The court found that while individual comments alone would be nothing more than "vulgar abuse", collectively, they served to emphasis the defamatory imputations of the original posts.
The case is a landmark decision in establishing liability for secondary publication of comments, regardless of if the original poster has control over the authors of the comments. It suggests that the original poster is still responsible for monitoring and removing inappropriate comments.[18][34][35][36][37]
Firearms offences and license cancellation
In 2013, South Australian Police searched Aldridges property to check if his firearms were stored correctly, and removed five firearms including a rifle and a pistol. He was later arrested and charged under Section 21 of the Firearms Act, with the charges later dropped.[38] Aldridge made a complaint to the Police Ombusdsman, who found that there was no reasonable prospect for the police to pursue the gun charges against him.[39]
In 2017, Aldridge was charged with aggravated assault using an offensive weapon, aggravated threatening to cause harm, discharging a firearm to injure, annoy or frighten, and two counts of breach of bail.[40] He was accused of shooting at a group of young people who had been doing burnouts and lighting fireworks near his house.[39]
The Registrar of Firearms cancelled Aldridge's firearms licence in 2020, claiming he was "not a fit and proper" person to hold one, after he made repeated indirect threats to use his firearms to harm others. He applied to SA Civil and Administrative Tribunal to have his firearms license reinstated, but after a two day hearing the tribunal denied his application, stating "there is a risk that the applicant may cause harm to another by the threatened use of a firearm."[1]
Animal welfare advocacy and controversies
Aldridge has been active in animal welfare campaigns in South Australia and has been involved in several disputes with authorities and animal welfare organisations.
Moorook Animal Shelter
In 2013 he was a spokesperson for the Moorook Animal Shelter. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) conducted inspections and removed several animals from the shelter. Aldridge argued that the facility was unfairly targeted and that the RSPCA should do more to support the shelters work.[41] The owner was later charged with animal neglect.[42]
Bushfire relief
After the 2015 Sampson Flat bushfires, Aldrige led a team of volunteers to provide support for victims and animals through his sanctuary Willow Wood Sanctuary.[43] Channel Severn's Sunrise contacted Aldridge to undertake a live interview about his support. After Aldrige arranged volunteers and victims to be at his house from 5.30am for the special broadcast, nobody from Channel Seven arrived at Aldridge's property, leading to him criticizing the network, stating "People devastated by the fires came all the way to be interview......what a**holes, in the world of mobile phones, they could have let us know last night, I will never watch that show ever again." [44][45][44][46] In response, Sunrise provided its own clarification that they were expecting Mark to call them the day prior to confirm, and when he didn't, they made multiple attempts to contact him. They stated:
Producers again made contact with Mark early on Tuesday morning to check he’d received the previous evening’s messages. Mark replied that he had received the messages sent the previous evening, but had been unable to respond as he had returned to the fire zone. Sunrise producers have a text message from Mark confirming he’d received the messages that Sunrise would not be attending the sanctuary.
A senior member of the Sunrise staff contacted Mark on Tuesday. Mark advised that he would amend his Facebook post to say that it had been a misunderstanding and that Sunrise was not at fault.[47]
South Australian Humane Animal Rescue Association
In 2025, Aldrige defended the South Australian Humane Animal Rescue Association (SAHARA), which was described by AdelaideNow as a "shelter from hell". When horses were seized and euthanized from a SAHARA property, Aldridge argued that funding losses and misinformation had undermined the shelter, while critics alleged neglect and poor animal welfare standards.[48] Aldridge started a fundraising campaign to support the shelter, after it lost its charity status and it's owners Shane Jones and Carole Morris were charged with 44 offences under the South Australian Animal Welfare Act. Aldridge argued that the seized animals were “perfectly healthy” and unlawfully taken.[49] In 2025, 100 further animals were seized from the sanctuary by the RSPCA as part of an ongoing joint investigation with the Department of Environment and Water and Primary Industries. Aldridge claimed the animals seized were in “beautiful condition” and "only became afraid when the RSPCA arrived." He stated that when the RSPCA shot a steer, other cows witnessing it started to shed tears.[50]
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