A Liberal byelection candidate already backtracking on claims to have spent a decade in her electorate is refusing to say whether she misled former Prime Minister John Howard with another claim about her past residence.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Government relations and media adviser Felicity Wilson is the strong favourite for Saturday's byelection for the seat of North Shore.
Ms Wilson, born in the Hunter, has been fielding questions about the depth of her links to the lower north shore seat, first in a preselection and now in a race against local independents.
But after a casual exchange with Mr Howard she has been forced to retract another claim about living in Sydney's north.
Ms Wilson posted a selfie from the campaign trail with Mr Howard last week to her Facebook page.
"The first vote I ever cast in an election was for John Howard in 2001 when I was a student living in Bennelong," a caption on the post said, according to a copy provided to Fairfax Media. "He told me this morning he'd return the favour".
But according to electoral roll records, Ms Wilson was not, in fact, eligible to vote for the former Prime Minister in 2001. Records seen by Fairfax Media place her on the other side of Sydney, at an address in Marrickville in the seat of Grayndler.
"The post was an unintentional error," Ms Wilson said, adding that she had been confused with the 2004 election.
Ms Wilson also retracted a repeated claim made during a closely fought Liberal preselection, including on a statutory declaration and nomination form: that she lived in the lower north shore electorate for a decade.
"I first moved into the North Shore Electorate in 2005 and have lived in Waverton, Wollstonecraft and now Neutral Bay, for 10 years," the declaration read.
Records link Ms Wilson to addresses outside North Shore at points across five of the past 12 years, with another three plus unaccounted for.
Ms Wilson was not registered to vote within North Shore's boundaries in 2005; early that year and the next, she was on the electoral roll at an address in North Epping, about 30 minutes' drive from harbourside Waverton.
"At the time of writing my nomination form I believed it to be true," she said in a written statement. "However, upon further reflection I have since realised that figure is not accurate.
"Rather, I have lived in and around Sydney's North Shore region for the best part of 10 years."
Ms Wilson said she would resubmit a "revised statutory declaration to the Liberal Party as soon as possible".
Knowingly submitting a false declaration can attract a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment.
Professor Alex Steel, from the UNSW Law School, said prosecution of such offences rested on establishing that inaccurate information was provided deliberately and knowing it was wrong to do so.
Ms Wilson refused to provide Fairfax Media with a residential history.
Apart from three years at Wollstonecraft addresses, Ms Wilson spent three years in Potts Point in Sydney's east and in Lindfield, on the upper north shore in the state seat of Ku-ring-gai.
It is not known when she moved to her current flat in Neutral Bay, but the property was last advertised for rent in November 2015.
Voters in three NSW seats will go to the polls on Saturday following the resignation of local MPs in Manly, North Shore and Gosford.
Former Health Minister Jillian Skinner held North Shore since the mid '90s.
