IT was a case of no contests as the Labor and Liberal parties selected their candidates in two seats involving Port Stephens for the next federal and state elections.
In the federal seat of Paterson health union officer Jim Arneman will again be the ALP's man to challenge the incumbent Bob Baldwin who holds it for the Liberal party.
Mr Arneman, who unsuccessfully challenged Mr Baldwin at the 2007 federal election, was the only nomination when the call for names closed last week.
At the weekend NSW upper house member Robyn Parker was selected as the Liberal candidate for the seat of Maitland.
There had been three other nominations but they withdrew before the pre-selection.
The Maitland seat, which includes a swag of Raymond Terrace voters, is held for the ALP by Frank Terenzini but he is not standing again. Mr Arneman said he would be a strong voice in the government for Paterson voters. He said Mr Baldwin had ignored voters by opposing the Rudd government's economic stimulus plan which had provided more than 800 projects and $128 million worth of investment in the Paterson electorate. The federal election will be held this year and the state election in March, 2011.
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