Bega Labor candidate Leanne Atkinson said sitting Liberal MP said State Treasurer Andrew Constance had resorted to “embarrassing falsehoods” in an attempt to “escape his responsibility for an economic and jobs crisis in the electorate”.

Ms Atkinson cited a report on the Far South Coast labour market from the federal Department of Employment.

She said the department’s figures showed 49 per cent of the working age population in the Eurobodalla was on some form of benefits, whether it be from Centrelink (29 per cent), unemployment (9 per cent) or disability (11 per cent).

The report showed the Eurobodalla had the highest median age in the 2011 census of 50 compared with the Bega Valley’s 48 and Shoalhaven’s 46.

The Eurobodalla also had the lowest rate of growth in the population of adults in the 15-plus age category – 4 per cent during 2007 to 2012, compared to Shoalhaven’s 8 per cent and Bega Valley’s 6 per cent.

Ms Atkinson said the report highlighted rising unemployment, levels of population growth far below the average, excessive competition for job vacancies, and trades qualifications through the TAFE system becoming essential for most jobs.

She said the figures also confirmed that increasing numbers of youth were leaving the area to pursue better opportunities.

However Mr Constance on Saturday moved to “debunk” the figures, citing Australian Bureau of Statistics official regional job numbers for the capital and Shoalhaven-Southern Highlands regions, which he said “exposed the lies and deceit of the Labor Party and their local campaign”.

His figures showed the unemployment rate in the capital region, which takes in the Bega electorate, at 4.6 per cent.

“The Shoalhaven-Southern Highland’s regional rate stands at 6.7 per cent,” Mr Constance said.

“Just last week, the Labor Party claimed that towns like Batemans Bay had an unemployment rate of 15 per cent by sourcing a website that warned against the reliability of its own numbers – the candidate should have waited for the release of the official data.

“It proves once again that the Labor candidate is willing to say and do anything to scare the community.”

However Ms Atkinson said the capital region unemployment figures had “absolutely no bearing on the true jobless levels” in centres such as Batemans Bay (14.5 per cent), Eden (13.3 per cent) and averaging 10 per cent across the electorate.

“The capital region comprises the large population areas of the ACT, Queanbeyan and 12 other areas, as well as the Bega Valley and the Eurobodalla,” Ms Atkinson said.

“It covers five state electorates so can hardly represent figures available for our town centres and electorate.

“The capital region also has at lease seven times the population of our electorate, with unemployment rates half of ours.”