Mayoral candidate Des Maslen along with East ward nominee David Simm and West ward hopeful Giacomo Arnott said the service - cut in 2012 - would bring greater transparency to the council.

"Web casting is one of the policies we have and it's something we want urgently," Mr Maslen said.

"It's paramount to an open and transparent council."

The live feed was axed when councillors expressed concern that unlike parliament, which offers its members certain protections, they might personally be liable to defamation.

"It will be our first act if we're elected in September," Mr Simm said.

"The web cam is the first step toward more accountability."

Mr Arnott said defamation fears were unwarranted.

"There are standards councillors must uphold and that includes being respectful of other councillors," he said.

"People elect councillors because they expect a certain degree of decorum."

The Labor candidates will take on the incumbent mayor Bruce MacKenzie and a predominately conservative aligned bloc of councillors at the polls on September 9.

"Bruce has been on council for 40 years and he has had a way of getting things done," Mr Maslen said.

"That might work for some people and for others it won't.

"The way we intend to do it; if the book says you're entitled to it, you're entitled to it.

"If you're not, you're not."

Mr Maslen said he had a pragmatic approach to the rules as a marshal in power boat racing.

"You can only do what's in the rule book," he said.

"If someone wanted to do something differently, they had to get the all-clear before the race so that everyone had the same opportunities."

The Labor trio were at pains to point out they did not wish to see the party politics of Newcastle City Council come to Port Stephens.

"If that became the case, we would expect people to pull us up," Mr Arnott said.

Mr Maslen was emphatic when he said Labor didn't not wish to form a voting bloc.

"I don't want everyone to agree with me all the time," he said

"Hell no, I don't want a voting  bloc. Our decision to stand as Labor candidates is about transparency."

Mr Simm, a soon-to-be-retired mine safety inspector with the CFMEU, said he wanted to be an East ward councillor accountable to his decisions if elected.

He's a new member of the Tomaree Ratepayers and Residents Association and someone, he said, accustomed to negotiating with the big boys, namely multi-national mining companies.

"Consultation is about listening to people's points of view and if you're not going to hear people out you're going to hit a brick wall," he said.

"You can't always please everyone.

"But if you don't have the intestinal fortitude to explain your decisions even when they are unpopular, you shouldn't be on council.”

Nominations for the Port Stephens Council elections open on August 1 and will close noon on August 10.

The election will be held on Saturday September 9.