Following a meet the candidates event hosted by the Tilligerry Community Association last Thursday, sitting Port Stephens Deputy Mayor and mayoral candidate Leah Anderson took exception to a suggestion by Mr Watson that the Labor party influenced her decision making on council.

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“At last night’s first ‘Meet the candidates forum’ at Tanilba Bay, some new candidates for the local council election expressed their concern that us Labor councillors had to ‘tow a party line’ and were told ‘from above’ how to vote!” Ms Anderson posted to social media following the event.

The Deputy Mayor described the suggestion to be “misinformation”.

“I don’t get told how to vote.

“I will never be told how to vote.

“I vote on the facts and data before me, and after consulting with my community.

“Those offering this misinformation may wish to look back at the last three years of Council meetings, where there is clear evidence that I vote based on my own decision making.”

Ms Anderson’s post spoke of the importance of being “open and honest and transparent”.

“That’s why you know I am a member of the Australian Labor Party,” she said.

“What are your thoughts on candidates who were very recently members of other political parties (are they still?), who say they are now ‘independent’ and now running for local council election, and talking about ‘Party Politics’?”

The post appeared to reference Mr Watson, who ran in the 2023 State Election for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party.

Mr Watson will officially contest September’s Mayoral election as an independent, with no political party affiliation declared on the candidate register.

In a statement released on Sunday, Mr Watson described Ms Anderson’s apparent suggestion he was not a true independent candidate to be “disappointing”.

“To set the record straight I am not a member of any political party and I have no party affiliation,” he said.

“It is clear that Labor councillors have taken offence to our key policy of removing party politics from council.

“Labor claims that there is no party politics in council, if this is the case why do Labor support council candidates?”