The NSW Liberal Party has scored an extraordinary own goal by not nominating candidates for a large number of local elections.
Officials confirmed the party missed Wednesday’s noon deadline to nominate candidates, with the state director blaming the blunder on a lack of resources.
Reports indicate that the Northern Beaches, Sutherland, Hornsby and Lane Cove are among the municipalities where voters may not be able to elect Liberal Party candidates.
The party’s state director, Richard Shields, admitted the error and apologised to the Liberal Party-backed candidates who were not nominated.
“With the resources available to us by the secretariat, we were unfortunately not able to nominate all the local government areas put forward by the state leadership,” he said.
‘Almost 300 Liberal Party candidates were nominated by the NSW Electoral Commission, including in areas such as Parramatta, Strathfield, Blacktown, Inner West and Bayside, which we did not contest in 2021.’
New South Wales Opposition Leader Mark Speakman declined to comment on how the error was made and called on Mr Shields for a full explanation.
Reports indicate that the Northern Beaches, Sutherland, Hornsby and Lane Cove are among the municipalities where voters may not be able to elect Liberal Party candidates.
“My wish was to have candidates in as many local elections as possible who enjoy the support of the Liberal Party. People have the right to choose whether they want to vote for a Liberal candidate,” he said.
Sutherland Shire Mayor Carmelo Pesce, a long-standing party member, said the move did not surprise him “at all”.
“The previous state governor worked hard to make sure every council had Liberal representation and we said we’re not going to do what we did in the state and federal party, when we were late getting people’s support,” he told Sydney radio station 2GB.
“This is the biggest mess I have ever seen and I am ashamed to have been a part of it.”
Richard Shields admitted the error and apologised to the Liberal Party-backed candidates who were not nominated.
Amanda Cohn, the New South Wales Greens MP and former Albury City Council member, boldly confirmed that her party had not made the same mistake.
“Communities across New South Wales can be confident that all 376 local GreenLeft candidates and 22 mayoral candidates have filed their papers,” she said.
“There are excellent candidates to vote for on September 14.”