A Maitland Liberal councillor has spoken out after two of his colleagues appeared to be swept up in the party's nomination scandal.
Councillor Mitchell Griffin said it appeared that two endorsed Liberal members, Ben Mitchell (ward four) and Michael Cooper (ward three), were not registered with the NSW Electoral Commission before the close of nominations at midday on August 14.
The Herald reported on August 14 that the Liberal party had failed to nominate candidates in multiple council areas across the state.
The NSW Liberal leader has described the party's failure to nominate candidates as "the worst act of mismanagement" in the party's history and called for state director Richard Shields to resign.
No Liberal candidates appear on the Electoral Commission website in Cessnock, while there was no Liberal ticket in Newcastle's ward three, where Matt Bailey was endorsed to run.
A Liberal source said 47 endorsed members were believed to be affected across NSW.
"These issues have stemmed from the Liberal head office in Sydney and not with hard-working Liberals locally in Maitland," Cr Griffin said.
"The exact circumstances of what has happened is unknown to us local candidates at this point of time, but I am sure it will be investigated over the coming weeks.
"This is a very difficult time for both candidates, who had been working very hard and were likely to have been elected on September 14.
"Both would have been very dedicated and hard-working councillors within the new council.
"I would personally like to thank both Michael and Ben for their collaboration and hard work over recent months.
"I also want to acknowledge Cr Mitchell's contribution to council over the last two terms, including a period as deputy mayor."
Cr Griffin managed to submit a nomination form as an independent candidate before the cut-off, a decision he described as "not easy, but necessary".
His colleague Sally Halliday (ward one) was successfully nominated as a Liberal candidate
"Although I will be listed as an independent on the ballot, I want to ensure the community that I am still a member of the Liberal Party and was originally selected to run as an endorsed Liberal candidate," he said.
"It is my preference to run as an endorsed Liberal, but sadly that is not possible at this election. I am very open and transparent about this and will not be hiding the fact that I am a Liberal member."
It comes as NSW Liberal leader Mark Speakman issued a statement to his state MP colleagues via email describing the failure to lodge nominations as a "debacle".
"It is probably the worst act of mismanagement that I can think of in the organisation's history," he said.
Mr Speakman said he had asked state director Richard Shields to provide a briefing to MPs at parliament and he failed to do so.
"I have told the state director that his position is no longer tenable and he should now resign," he said.
