PORT Stephens has a new NSW One Nation candidate in Corlette resident Mark Watson, who will stand in just under seven weeks at the NSW State Election.

Mr Watson works in the hospitality sector of the Port Stephens community and dedicates his spare time to the community as a volunteer firefighter.

Mark Watson is married to his wife Kayla and they have a young daughter together.

Mr Watson’s candidacy was announced by NSW One Nation leader Mark Latham at a candidate launch event at PPK Mining Equipment at Tomago on Saturday.

“Mark Watson is a candidate who will fight for jobs, education and a viable economic future,” NSW One Nation leader Mark Latham told News Of The Area.

“Mark Watson won’t roll over with the Liberals, Nationals, Labor and the Greens under the delusional belief that destroying coal and other resource industries in the Hunter will somehow save the planet,” Mr Latham said.

Mark Watson has stepped into the political ring in opposition to the current member for Port Stephens’ plans for the region.

“Money needs to be responsibly spent, so I will be opposing Labor’s Kate Washington’s pet project of the past 25 years.

“To build a new high school in Medowie is ludicrous, as it simply does not have the numbers to support it,” Mark Watson told News Of The Area.

“The last census showed that Medowie has only grown by 1316, while pupil enrolment has maintained steady.

“Instead we will upgrade our existing school and double the amount of transport services in order to get our children to the already established network of schools in Port Stephens,” Mr Watson continued.

“This is a realistic approach that can be delivered quickly in order to provide impact and relief in the short term.”

Mr Watson told News Of The Area it was beyond belief that locals had to travel an hour for specialist health needs and then have to wait a few more hours before they are seen.

“Tomaree Hospital is in urgent need of resourcing, focusing on staffing and equipment,” he said.

While in Tomago, Mr Latham launched his campaign team for the Upper House seats at the March 25 NSW State Election.

The candidates announced as the One Nation Upper House team include Mark Latham, Tania Mihailuk, Amit Batish, Colin Grigg and Roger Smith.

“No part of NSW faces a more uncertain future than the Hunter and Port Stephens regions, with sustained attacks on its employment, industrial and resource base from the Matt Kean, Labor, Greens Alliance,” Mr Latham said.

Mr Latham stated that coal alone sustains 75,000 jobs in the region and finds it incomprehensible that NSW would lose its coal industry without it completely gutting the Hunter area.

He firmly believes that there are no viable replacement industries for the number of jobs that will be lost.

“The best the Greenies have proposed is floating windmills and turning disused mining pits into water theme parks, which is an absolute insult to the workers of this region,” Mr Latham said.

“The One Nation policy is based on job security and better services for the region.”

Mr Latham believes that the upcoming election is the most important one yet for NSW, stating that One Nation holding the balance of power in the Upper House can prevent the two major parties from making the state of NSW “woke and broke”.