Cassandra Coleman yesterday announced she had been endorsed as Labor's candidate to challenge incumbent Nationals MP Paul Toole at the next state election in March 2015.

The mother-of-two said she was putting her hand up 16 months out from the election to allow plenty of time to introduce herself to the electorate.

She said boosting her profile in Bathurst, in particular, would be her main priority.

“It’s a definite strategy because a lot of the feedback we got regarding the previous campaign was that our candidate [Dale Turner] was not well-known locally and that we didn’t get him out soon enough,” Ms Coleman said.

“I am Lithgow born and bred and I live in Portland with my Portland born and bred husband so I am well-known in those areas, but not as much in Bathurst.

“So over the next 16 months I’m planning to do as many street stalls and fairs as possible to meet people and talk to them about their concerns.

“And I will start door-knocking in January and keep going until the election.”

Ms Coleman, who works at the Office of State Debt Recovery in Lithgow, is also the secretary of the local branch of the Public Service Association.

But she said she did not see her strong union affiliations as a hindrance in her bid to defeat Mr Toole.

Rather, she said her track record of standing up for her colleagues would boost her chances.

“I have a proven record of being a very active union member but my position is an honorary one - I don’t get paid,” she said.

“My members know me for standing up for their rights at a local, state and national level and I will stand up for the Bathurst electorate.

“The union movement has given me the courage and encouragement to do this so I don’t think it will hinder me because I have a reputation as a decent, hard-working mother and union member.”

Ms Coleman said she had not thought about entering politics before leading a series of PSA rallies protesting public service wage-capping in the early days of the O’Farrell Government.

But she said she could not stand by and watch the jobs and conditions of her colleagues being lost while Mr Toole appeared to do nothing.

“Mr Toole is not an advocate for the Bathurst electorate, he is an advocate for the government,” she said.

“Since Paul Toole has been the local member we have had hundreds of jobs lost starting with the closure of Kirkconnell Correction Centre and then the privatisation of the power stations, plus job losses at the EDI facility in Bathurst and Simplot.

“We’re experiencing a jobs crisis here and this government seems either unwilling or unable to do anything about it.”

But Ms Coleman faces a massive task to defeat Mr Toole who swept to power with a record 36 per cent swing in 2011.

He currently holds the seat for the Nationals with an imposing 23 per cent margin.