NSW Liberals fail to register candidates in a dozen councils in major election blunder
The NSW Liberals have thrown their election plans into crisis by failing to submit candidates in multiple councils for the September 14th election due to an administrative error.
The NSW Liberals have failed to register candidates in a dozen councils in the upcoming elections after an administrative blunder, throwing their campaign into chaos.
In a major own goal, the secretariat did not lodge any candidates in seven local government areas for the September 14 council elections by the deadline on Wednesday, with five other areas receiving only partial nominations.
Liberals state director Richard Shields apologised for the error, blaming resourcing issues, and announced he would be standing down from Woollahra Council at the end of his term next month.
In a statement sent to the state executive – seen by The Australian – Mr Shields said: “With the secretariat resources that we had available, unfortunately we were unable to nominate in all of the local government areas that were put forward by the state executive.
“On behalf of the secretariat, I would like to apologise to Liberal-endorsed councillors that were not nominated and to the party membership more broadly.”
In a separate statement on his website, Mr Shields announced he would not be seeking re-election, but made no reference to the error.
The announcement has sparked anger within the party, with sitting candidates scrambling to find out whether they could be out of a job within weeks.
The secretariat is awaiting final confirmation from the NSW Electoral Commission, but it is likely that no candidates have been fielded in Camden, Northern Beaches, Lane Cove, Shoalhaven, Wollongong, Blue Mountains and Campbelltown.
Meanwhile, only partial nominations were submitted for Georges River, North Sydney, Penrith, Canterbury Bankstown and Maitland.
Opposition Leader Mark Speakman demanded a full explanation for the error and said the blame lay with Mr Shields and the secretariat.
Some within the party are even calling for federal intervention to help run the NSW division over the fiasco.
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