By Max Aldred in Sydney

A lead One Nation candidate is doubling down after being panned for comments at an anti-immigration rally labelled divisive.

A day after suggesting Australians face demographic replacement, NSW upper house candidate Stuart Bonds on Monday night discussed suggestions leaders were building ethnic voting blocs ahead of the March state election.

In a podcast with the rally’s organiser, it was suggested to Mr Bonds the state’s leaders were “stacking the numbers” in certain suburbs by race.

“They are building ethnic voting blocks with Middle Eastern and subcontinent people to build that ethnicity in those suburbs,” the podcast host said.

Mr Bonds responded by saying: “that’s why we are going to get rid of all the multicultural grants.”

“It should not be happening. It’s just literally paying money to these communities to get them to vote for you,” he said.

NSW Multicultural Minister Steve Kamper seized on the comments on Tuesday, saying they went well beyond debate.

“They are deeply offensive comments that accuse entire communities of being brought to Australia to influence election outcomes and question the legitimacy of their participation in our democracy,” he said.

“Ultimately, these statements question the loyalty of multicultural Australians and suggest they do not have an equal right to participate in our democracy.”

Mr Bonds told a rally in Sydney on Sunday: “Make no mistake, we are being demographically replaced inside our own nation”.

“If we don’t support Australian mothers having Australian children, we are going to pay for other cultures’ children to be brought up in our lands,” he said in the roughly four-minute speech.

NSW Premier Chris Minns later labelled the comments “outrageous” and “racist” and questioned what role Mr Bonds would have in a One Nation government.

The premier and Mr Kamper believe One Nation has a shot at leading the state, potentially in a coalition with the Liberals and Nationals.