The New South Wales Liberal Party has scored an extraordinary own goal by failing to nominate candidates for a series of local government elections.
Officials confirmed the party missed a Wednesday noon deadline to nominate some candidates, with the state director blaming a lack of resources for the error.
Reports suggest the list of councils where voters may not be able to elect Liberal candidates includes the Northern Beaches, Sutherland, Hornsby and Lane Cove.
State party director Richard Shields admitted the error and apologised to Liberal-backed candidates who had not been nominated.
“With the secretarial resources we had available, unfortunately we were unable to nominate candidates in all the local government areas that were proposed by the state executive,” he said.
‘Nearly 300 Liberal candidates have been nominated to the NSW Electoral Commission, including in areas such as Parramatta, Strathfield, Blacktown, Inner West and Bayside, where we are not standing in 2021.’
NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman declined to comment on how the error was made and called on Mr Shields to provide a full explanation.
Reports suggest the list of councils where voters may not be able to elect Liberal candidates includes the Northern Beaches, Sutherland, Hornsby and Lane Cove.
“My wish was to have Liberal-endorsed candidates in as many municipal elections as possible; people have a right to have the option to vote for a Liberal candidate if that’s what they wish to do,” he said.
Sutherland County Mayor Carmelo Pesce, a long-time party member, said he was “not one bit surprised” by the move.
“The previous state executive worked very hard to make sure every council had Liberal representation and we said we wouldn’t do what we did at state and federal level where we started backing people late,” he told Sydney’s 2GB radio.
“This has been the biggest disaster I have ever seen and I am ashamed to know that I was a part of it.”
Richard Shields admitted the error and apologized to the Liberal-backed candidates who had not been nominated.
NSW Green Party MP Amanda Cohn, who previously sat on Albury council, mischievously confirmed that her party had not made the same mistake.
“Communities across New South Wales can rest assured that all 376 Green candidates for local government and 22 mayoral candidates have submitted their paperwork,” he said.
“There are excellent candidates to vote for on September 14.”
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