Sean Black subsequently gravitated towards conservative politics but controversy has followed him every step of the way.

He was accused of bullying and flying into fits of uncontrollable rage during his years as a Queensland local councillor, tried to set up the Australian version of the US Tea Party fringe group and was kicked out of a restaurant when he threw a coaster at a man wearing a T-shirt insulting Tony Abbott.

Mr Black is also the ex-husband of Hajnal Ban, a former Liberal Party figure who underwent radical bone-breaking cosmetic surgery to make her taller but whose fledgling political career was cut short when she was found to have misused vast sums of money taken from an elderly friend suffering dementia.

The pair, who met on Logan City Council, got married at a lavish 2010 ceremony attended by Liberal National Party luminaries including then-LNP donor Clive Palmer and Coalition frontbencher turned Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce (who charged taxpayers to attend).

Known as "Blackban", they were touted at the time as a future conservative power couple. They divorced two years later.

During his years as a real estate agent Mr Black was also accused of rent-bidding – and was named in Queensland Parliament by former Labor housing minister Robert Schwarten for engaging in the "un-Australian" activity.

But Fairfax Media can reveal Mr Black actually began his career with Labor, serving as Queensland State Secretary of Young Labor and then as a staffer to former treasurer and ALP heavyweight Terry Mackenroth.

It's understood Mr Black worked as a researcher and junior policy adviser to Mr Mackenroth in the early days of the Beattie government, and compiling dirt files on the then-surging One Nation was one of his main tasks.

One Labor figure who declined to be named described Mr Black – also known as Sean Wheelehen – as a "One Nation slayer". One Nation had just won 11 seats in the Queensland Parliament at the 1998 election.

"He had very strong views against One Nation," another former colleague said. "He hated them, like we all did at the time. He said they were threatening the very fabric of Queensland."

But Mr Black was soon sacked from Mr Mackenroth's office under mysterious circumstances. He was subsequently adversely named in the Queensland Justice Commission's Shepherdson Inquiry into electoral fraud.

The report linked him to branch-stacking and false enrolments. He was never charged but he was forced to resign from the ALP.

In 2008 he returned to politics when he was elected to the Logan City Council, leading to a tumultuous four years.

At one stage he was banned from entering council chambers or dealing with staff after a string of complaints of bullying and intimidation.

The mayor at the time said he had a "sad history of unacceptable behaviour" and ordered special security arrangements for any meetings he attended.

"It was four years of chaos with him in here," says long-serving Logan City Councillor Russell Lutton now.

"I've been on this council for 31 years and I've never seen anything like it. It was the most disruptive time that we've ever had."

At the time Mr Black admitted to raising his voice and swearing but said the ban was an attempt to silence him for an unsuccessful attempt to have Mr Lutton removed as deputy mayor.

Mr Black also had a toxic relationship with the Labor state member for the area, John Mickel. Mr Mickel, a former Speaker in the Queensland Parliament, says Mr Black's behaviour was "constantly and utterly outrageous".

"He was an unguided missile in every sense of the word," he says now.

On his Facebook page Mr Black has admitted to struggling to control his temper – including last year when he launched into a foul-mouthed rant and threw a coaster at a man wearing an offensive T-shirt about Tony Abbott.

"So today I snapped," he wrote.

"Our greatest prime minister, Tony Abbott, is being taunted, derided and dis­respected. I've had a gut full of pansy conservatives who won't stick up for freedom, Tony, or our nation. Time to grow balls and pick some fights folks."

It was at the council that Mr Black met Ms Ban.

This happened some years after she spent nine months in Siberia having bones in her legs broken and her frame stretched until she grew from 154cm to 162cm.

In 2009 she was named as the true author of the book God Made Me Small, Surgery Made Me Tall. She wrote it under a pseudonym and promoted it dressed in a disguise to conceal her true identity.

In 2011 she was found by the Queensland Supreme Court to have inappropriately used the funds of an older man for whom she had power of attorney.

A judge found she was entitled to only $40,000 of the $700,000 she took for personal use – allegedly including for her wedding to Mr Black.

The Department of Local Government then pressed criminal charges against her for failing to declare her financial interests with the man.

She was dumped as LNP candidate for the federal seat of Wright in 2010 for not disclosing she was under investigation.

Before she was dumped, Mr Abbott said of her: "Hajnal Ban is an excellent candidate and Australia needs her in the Federal Parliament."

Mr Schwarten says he remembers Mr Black well.

"Every organisation he has ever touched he has blighted. It's hard to believe anyone could discredit One Nation but believe me he will do that. It will prove to be an own goal for them, having him there."

Mr Black failed to respond to calls, texts and emails about his employment history. He makes no mention of his time with Labor on his social media sites.

Senator Roberts was also contacted for comment.