Liberal Senate candidate Richard Shields has vowed to set up his electorate office in Newcastle if he wins this month's party vote to fill a vacancy in federal Parliament.
Mr Shields, who lives with his family in the eastern Sydney suburb of Double Bay and is deputy mayor of Woollahra, has written to party pre-selectors pledging to help the Morrison government retain power in 2022 by winning back Hunter and Central Coast seats.
The Insurance Council of Australia lobbyist is running against Scott Morrison pick Jim Molan for the NSW Senate vacancy created by Arthur Sinodinos' departure to take up an ambassadorship in Washington.
The casual vacancy lasts until June 30, 2022. More than 800 Liberal branch delegates will elect a replacement for Mr Sinodinos, who grew up in Newcastle, on November 10.
Mr Molan, a former senator, has also been endorsed by the NSW Liberal Party's Right faction and is a clear favourite.
He has the backing of the prime minister and one of his predecessors, John Howard, but many in the party are still livid about his call for voters to ignore the party's Senate ticket and vote for him "below the line" in the May election.
The Coalition ran a shambolic Hunter campaign in this year's state and federal elections, gagging most of its inexperienced candidates from talking to the media, but still achieved significant swings against Labor incumbents in most of the region's federal seats.
Labor veteran Joel Fitzgibbon saw his 12.5 per cent margin plummet to 3 per cent in the seat of Hunter under an onslaught from One Nation coal miner and political newcomer Stuart Bonds.
Mr Bonds, One Nation's most successful lower-house candidate, secured 21.6 per cent of the primary vote and directed his preferences to Nationals rookie Josh Angus (23.5 per cent).
The Liberals' Nell McGill cut Pat Conroy's margin in Shortland from 9.9 per cent to 4.5 per cent, and another first-time candidate, Sachin Joshi, slashed Meryl Swanson's doubt-digit margin to 5 per cent.
Mr Shields, a former state party deputy director whose father lives near Cessnock, was called to give evidence to ICAC's Operation Spicer inquiry into illegal developer donations in 2014.
He would not comment about his candidacy other than to confirm he was running, but he says on his website that his experience in the party's head office would help the Liberals raise their profile in the Hunter.
"To protect the Morrison Government, I will set up my full Senate Electorate Office in Newcastle and fight to win back Dobell and Paterson," he writes.
"I will fight to run a Liberal candidate in Hunter and co-ordinate the campaigns in Newcastle and Shortland.
"I am an experienced political fundraiser where the funds raised have been used directly to defeat Labor.
"There is currently no Liberal Electorate Office north of Gosford to the Queensland border and the possibilities to spread our message in these key areas are strong."
The Newcastle Herald has been told Mr Shields would not move to Newcastle if he won the Senate spot, but his staff would be based in the office.
A party source said Mr Shields had chosen Newcastle because it would not encroach on the territory of incumbent Liberal senators Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, whose office is in Wollongong, and Marise Payne, who is based at Parramatta.
Mr Shields would need to challenge either of the two incumbents for preselection if he wanted to remain in the Senate beyond the next election. Mr Molan has vowed to leave Parliament in 2022.
The source said the party's Hunter rank-and-file were concerned Mr Shields' likely exit from Newcastle in 2022 would create unwanted headlines that the Liberals were abandoning the city.
Former Labor president Warren Mundine pulled out of the race for the Liberal Senate vacancy after Mr Morrison endorsed Mr Molan.
Mr Shields finished second to former Israel ambassador Dave Sharma in the party's preselection battle in Wentworth last year.
If successful in the November 10 vote, he would be the only Liberal state or federal representative with a presence in the Hunter.
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