Independent candidate for Gilmore Kate Dezarnaulds has been forced to defend herself after an email containing disparaging comments that she made about Berry was leaked to a media outlet.

A section of the email was published by The Daily Telegraph on Monday in which Dezarnaulds described Berry as a "miserable backwards retirement village" and that "she can't wait to get out of" the picturesque South Coast town which is a part of the electorate of Gilmore.

Dezarnaulds, who previously served as Berry Chamber of Commerce president, is one of eight candidates for the federal seat with pre-polling open last week leading into this Saturday's election day.

In the email in question, which was sent to a number of Shoalhaven Council employees last May, she said “My term as president finishes in August and I cannot wait to get the hell out.”

She admitted to sending the "poorly worded" email which she said was a result of "months of stonewalling by council in providing transparent details about leases over valuable community assets".

Dezarnaulds told The Bugle that she was not overly concerned that the faux pas would cause much concern in the Gilmore electorate.

"One of the guiding beliefs of my campaign is that sunshine is the best disinfectant and I suspect that shining a light on these petty political games does little to recommend the Liberal Party to the sensible centre of our community, who will ultimately decide this election.

"The comments in question, while unfortunate, and admittedly poorly worded, came in a moment of frustration at the 11th hour, after months of stonewalling by Council in providing transparent details about leases over valuable community assets.

"For more than two years, as President of the Berry Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, I advocated for a more open leasing process for council-owned buildings, many of which were being provided on recurring peppercorn leases to a narrow group of community organisations."

Kate Dezarnaulds speaks at a meet the candidates forum. Photo: Supplied

Dezarnaulds claimed in her statement that the email has surfaced because a Liberal Party member "lodged a GIPA (Government Information Public Access) request to trawl through years of my correspondence with Shoalhaven Council".

"This is a common tactic used by political parties to build 'dirt files' on opposing candidates. Out of 266 pages of correspondence across three years, they have found one single poorly chosen sentence expressing frustration about the renewal of these leases on the same terms to the same groups.

"This week, the Liberal Party have chosen to release this to the media in an attempt to stir division in my hometown. If that’s the worst they can find about me on the eve of a federal election, the people of Gilmore should sleep as soundly as I do.

"Frankly, the bigger concern here is the current culture and behaviour of the Liberal Party itself - from wasting Council resources in pursuit of petty political point-scoring, to daily demands for council rangers to remove legally positioned corflutes, and the domineering, intimidating behaviour witnessed at pre-poll booths this week. These increasingly desperate and petty tactics are making them unrecognisable to many former supporters- myself included."

Dezarnaulds was adamant her full record as Berry Chamber of Commerce president showed that she "maintained a strong, professional relationship with Council, helped secure grants, ensured the Chamber’s financial stability beyond my own tenure, doubled Chamber membership, and led Berry to win three consecutive Top Tourism Town awards".

"The Liberal Party would do better to spend less time playing political games and more time listening to their communities and developing good policies.

"That’s what people are looking for - leadership that puts the community first, and a positive change in our political culture."

State Member for Kiama Gareth Ward issued a media release within a couple of hours of the story being published to criticise Dezarnaulds' actions.

“How can you attack a community that you want to represent,” he said.

“Having established the Age and Disability Commission to guard against the abuse, neglect and exploitation of older adults and people with disabilities, I consider her comments highly offensive.

“The comment isn’t just age discrimination; it targets the very town this candidate lives in. I must say it’s an interesting operating model to attack the community you want to represent in Parliament.

“Being a Member of Parliament involves respecting all people, including the views of all ages, and the views of people you don’t agree with. I deeply value the views of older Australians who share wisdom and experience with me.

“Older Australians also make up such a large number of community volunteers. These comments are hurtful and disrespectful.

"An apology to older people and the Berry community is necessary. These comments will hurt and upset many."

The full context of the email in question

"I don’t know how much more clear I need to be in order to seek the support of Council to ensure the sustainable operations of the Berry Chamber of Commerce.

My term as President finishes in August, and I cannot wait to get the hell out of this miserable backwards retirement village.

What I would like to do is set the organisation up for success into the future before I go. Kicking this down the road for another five to ten years will miss the opportunity of this moment of positive momentum that I have volunteered endlessly for the last few years to create the conditions for."

For the record, the leases to the two Council owned buildings in question were extended without transparency, reference to Community plans or priorities and without a tender process or review. Thus my frustration."