Labor's candidate for the West Australian state seat of Darling Range is in the spotlight again, this time for claiming a university qualification she doesn't appear to have.
Colleen Yates admitted on Wednesday it was "fairly ambitious" to have written the date range of 2016 to 2018 under her LinkedIn entry for an MBA which she has not yet completed.
On Thursday, a Fairfax report also raised doubts about higher education she claimed to have undertaken in the US.
According to the report, the LinkedIn page - which has since been deleted - listed a Washington University Bachelor of Engineering/Masters of Architecture.
But WA Labor state secretary Matt Dixon issued a statement saying Ms Yates had only enrolled in a Bachelor's degree majoring in architecture.
He said her LinkedIn page included "some minor errors ... which is not uncommon for the online site", and Ms Yates was in the process of "acquiring updated records" from Fort Lewis College where she claims she studied.
"All the information provided to the party, including Colleen's CV, is accurate," Mr Dixon said.
"Colleen is an outstanding candidate for Darling Range.
"Colleen's record as an accomplished senior public servant and successful small business owner speaks for itself."
The seat was vacated by Labor-turned-independent MP Barry Urban, who quit before he could be expelled from parliament for repeatedly lying about his background.
"There's a bit of a pattern developing for Labor in Darling Range," Opposition spokesman Zak Kirkup told reporters.
"If these claims are substantiated, we have another issue all over again here.
"I think it's incumbent upon the premier to come out and explain exactly what's happening. I think the people of Darling Range deserve better."
Ms Yates has been contacted for comment.
The by-election was only officially called for June 23 two days ago but has rapidly descended into a bitter tit-for-tat between the two major parties.
Senior WA minister Rita Saffioti accused the opposition of hypocrisy on Wednesday, saying their candidate Alyssa Hayden had wrongly listed her role on LinkedIn as director of strategy and business engagement for Opposition Leader Mike Nahan.
"Now that's completely different to her actual role, which is executive officer, and an electoral officer for a regional MP," Ms Saffioti said.
Darling Range was a safe Liberal seat for decades before Mr Urban won with a 5.8 per cent margin on the back of Labor's landslide victory in March last year.
