All seven candidates in the run for the federal seat were present at Easts Leisure and Golf Club on Thursday night and put under the microscope by attendees.

The seven candidates vying for the federal seat include Angela Ketas (Informed Medical Options Party), Jason Mark Olbourne (United Australia Party), Brooke Vitnell (Liberal Party), Neil Turner (Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party), Sonia Bailey (Democratic Liberal Party), Louise Ilhein (Greens) and incumbent member Meryl Swanson (Labor Party).

Each candidate was given seven minutes to share their pitch.

One Nation, United Australia Party, Medical Informed Options Party and Democratic Liberal Party candidates all promised the removal of vaccine mandates and lockdowns if elected.

After the pitches, attendees were given the opportunity to ask questions with an answer from each candidate.

The hot topics for constituents questions included healthcare, aged care, inflation and wage growth, national debt, small business and climate change.

Ms Swanson and Ms Vitnell were put in the spotlight about the controversial MRI licence at the New Maitland Hospital.

In the news:

Over the past few months, the local community has been advocating for a full Medicare Benefit Schedule (MBS) licence to be granted for Maitland Hospital's magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine.

This means inpatients and emergency patients have access to free MRI testing, however external medical practitioners are unable to refer their patients to be tested by the hospital's machine.

Ms Swanson confirmed a Labor Government would provide the license for the new hospital if elected in next week's edition.

While Ms Vitnell said she had made representation to the Health Minister but criticised that the issue had become a "political football".

"I have made representations to the Minister for Health Greg Hunt ... I'm perfectly happy to advocate for this," she said.

"We also need to involve the state government."

The Paterson electorate covers 1123 square kilometres and includes Maitland, Kurri Kurri, Port Stephens, Nelson Bay and Raymond Terrace.

In 2019, Labor recorded a majority of the two-party preferred vote in 35 of the 46 polling places.

The federal election will be held on Saturday, May 21 and pre-poll is open.

The Maitland Mercury will be running profiles on candidates for the seat of Paterson in its May 20 edition.

Do you know you can subscribe to get full access to all Maitland Mercury stories? Subscribing supports us in our local news coverage. To subscribe, click here.