At a press conference on Tuesday Mr Saunders said he was delighted to receive such “great support” from an organisation that is so highly regarded in all the local communities across the electorate.

A Facebook post from Mr Saunders said he had the "backing" of Clubs NSW as did a statement he released to the press.

But a Clubs NSW spokesman said it does not endorse individual candidates. 

“Clubs NSW does not endorse candidates from any political party. We work collaboratively with both major political parties to advance the interests of our member clubs and their communities,” the spokesman said.   

“ClubsNSW signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Coalition Government back in October, in which government and industry agreed to work together on a range of important issues including job creation, skills training, drought relief and gambling harm minimisation among others.

“Since then, clubs across the state have been inviting coalition members and candidates into their venues for local MOU signings, to talk about opportunities the agreement has opened up in their areas and to thank them for their government’s strong support of our industry.  

“It was incorrectly reported that ClubsNSW had endorsed Dugald Saunders at the upcoming state election. 

“We will continue to develop strong relationships with all political representatives who support the great work the not-for-profit club industry does and the support it provides to communities.”

Mr Saunders agreed he said he was delighted to receive such great support from Clubs NSW and the Dubbo RSL Club at the signing of the MOU.

“It was The RSL Club’s general manager Gus Lico who said the current Nationals/Liberals government has a good relationship with Clubs NSW and it was the Labor candidate who used the term “endorsement”, not me, not Clubs NSW, not the RSL Club,” Mr Saunders said.

“It was the Daily Liberal who said that Clubs NSW and the Dubbo RSL Club “have thrown its considerable weight behind my campaign. I support the statement from Clubs NSW which sets out its clear position on the MOU.”

Country Labor candidate for Dubbo Stephen Lawrence has expressed his disappointment with the Nationals Dugald Saunders claim to have the "support" and 'backing" of Clubs NSW and Dubbo RSL going into the state election. 

Mr Lawrence said some things should be above politics. 

“To go around falsely claiming the RSL Club has politically endorsed you is about as low as it gets,” Mr Lawrence said.

“Dugald needs to correct the record, so the community knows the true position.

"I was contacted yesterday by Clubs NSW and assured they are not supporting or backing Mr Saunders. If we cannot believe Mr Saunders on a matter as simple as who is supporting him how can we believe him on anything? This is really a bizarre and extraordinary situation which leaves Mr Saunders credibility in tatters".

"And before some mealy-mouthed claim of misunderstanding is made let me say this. Mr Saunders himself claimed on his Facebook page to have the "backing" of Clubs NSW and the quote in the Liberal’s story itself spoke of having their "support". This is a bald faced lie which Mr Saunders needs to retract and fix.”

ClubsNSW does not endorse candidates from any political party. We work collaboratively with both major political parties to advance the interests of our member clubs and their communities.  

ClubsNSW signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Coalition Government back in October, in which government and industry agreed to work together on a range of important issues including job creation, skills training, drought relief and gambling harm minimisation among others.

Since then, clubs across the state have been inviting coalition members and candidates into their venues for local MoU signings, to talk about opportunities the agreement has opened up in their areas and to thank them for their government’s strong support of our industry.  

“A newspaper article published yesterday incorrectly reported that ClubsNSW had endorsed the Nationals candidate for Dubbo Dugald Saunders at the upcoming state election.

We appreciate the support Dugald and his coalition colleagues have provided to NSW clubs. We will continue to develop strong relationships with all political representatives who support the great work the not-for-profit club industry does and the support it provides to communities across the State.

- At the signing of the MOU, I stated that I was delighted to receive such great support from Clubs NSW and the Dubbo RSL Club.

- The RSL Club’s general manager Mr Gus Lico said that the current Nationals/Liberals government has a good relationship with Clubs NSW because “ ….they understand what we are all about and what we do in the community”.

- It was the Labor candidate who used the term “endorsement”, not me, not Clubs NSW, not the RSL Club. Perhaps he should be more careful with his wording.

- It was the Daily Liberal who said that Clubs NSW and the Dubbo RSL Club “have thrown its (sic) considerable weight behind Nationals candidate Dugald Saunders’ campaign”.

- I support the statement from Clubs NSW which sets out its clear position on the MOU.

- The final sentence in that statement says that Clubs NSW will continue to develop strong relationships with all political representatives who support the great work the not-for-profit club industry does.

- That obviously would not include the Labor candidate who has viciously attacked all clubs, their 43,000 employees and their hundreds of thousands of members.