Thomas Harris of the Christian Democratic Party was a surprise inclusion in the ballot draw given media across the electorate had not previously heard the Fred Nile Group was to be running here.

However, trying to track down who Mr Harris is and what he stands for has proven somewhat brick wall-esque.

"He's a friend of the CDP and put his name forward to stand in that region," was the response the Bega District News received when calling CDP head office - we did so because Mr Harris has not supplied any direct contact information to the Australian Electoral Commission as other candidates have done.

"He won't be engaging in any media coverage or photos though," was the rather surprising follow up statement from the person manning the phone.

Hardly conducive to pitching for votes among residents.

MEET THE CANDIDATES: Bios, key issues, photos

As it turns out, other news outlets across the country have received essentially the same response when trying to track down their own mystery CDP candidates.

When the Port Macquarie News attempted to speak to the candidate who drew top spot in their ballot, they were told by the CDP Ruth Meads is an "inactive candidate who wishes to remain private".

Lead NSW Senate Candidate for the CDP Silvana Nile described Ms Meads as a "friend of the CDP" who had "asked that her details remain private".

Sound familiar?

We understand it's the same situation in neighbouring Hume, with no contact details for the CDP candidate Ian Nebauer listed and media in the region unable to reach him.

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So why is the party running candidates who don't wish to be contactable and therefore unlikely to want to be elected?

We believe it's to raise the profile of the party as a whole and therefore increase chances of seats in the Upper House.

However, while the party has regularly held two or occasionally three seats in the NSW Senate, it has never had anyone elected to the federal parliament.