That is the claim of Independent candidate for Myall Lakes, Steve Attkins and an issue that he is highlighting in the lead-up to the NSW election on March 28.

Mr Attkins recently released a comparative analysis of State government funding outcomes for Myall Lakes and the neighbouring electorate, Port Macquarie. Titled 'A Tale of Two Electorates', Mr Attkins said the research revealed "splits inside the electorate" of Myall Lakes.

"While overall funding is roughly equal, residents of the Great Lakes may be pleased to know that their funding worked out to over $150 per person, something their neighbours in the Greater Taree City Council area would envy, with funding for residents of the Manning Valley coming up to just $117 per person," Mr Attkins said.

According to Mr Attkins, "projects which helped Great Lakes surge ahead included a half million dollars to fund repairs to the Forster and Tuncurry breakwaters, from the Minister for Natural Resources, Lands and Water."

"Last year the member for Myall Lakes was 'delighted to announce' (December 19 2014) that the State's Public Reserves Management Fund would be giving over $350,000 to groups in the electorate. However, down in the detail, he also stated that Manning Valley residents would see only $45,000 of that money.

"I'm not sure why there is this 28 per cent overall funding gap between the Great Lakes and the Manning over the last year. It's even worse for community projects, with Great Lakes residents seeing $934,000 last year, and the Manning $497,000 in delivered funding."

At the time of going to print, Member for Myall Lakes, Stephen Bromhead had not responded to the request of the Manning River Times for comment on the claims made by Mr Attkins. The invitation to comment was extended to Mr Bromhead on February 11.