Mr Moore, who has been the managing director of Habitat Personnel for the past three years, announced his candidature on Wednesday evening.

“I’ve been thinking about standing for 12 months and decided now was the time to make the move,” he said.

The 60-year-old Huskisson resident, who grew up in Wreck Bay, is passionate about Gilmore, where he has lived most of his life.

“In any Welcome to Country I do, I always say people in our neck of the woods live in the best part of Australia and I honestly believe that,” he said.

Mr Moore said he had a lot to offer the region and wanted to see better health care, better deals for pensioners, regionalisation and better infrastructure.

“We need to work out what the priorities for Gilmore are,” he said.

“It’s also about listening to the people of Gilmore - see what they want, find out what their issues are and address them.

“I want to have discussions with a few of the local branches and listen to what the people have got to tell me.”

Through his work with Habitat Personnel, the former chief executive officer of the Aboriginal Legal Service NSW and ACT and current national board member of the National Congress for Australia’s First People, Mr Moore has been on the periphery of politics for many years.

“I know it’s a tough game. I’ve had dealings with governments over many years,” he said.

“I’ve learnt a lot.”

He said standing against the current Gilmore MP Ann Sudmalis and winning would be a tough battle.

“I’ve had a lot to do with Ann and her predecessor Jo Gash over the years and I’m under no illusion if I get preselected it will be a big job to unseat the current member,” he said.

“But I’m not singing their praises because there is a lot that needs to be happening at the federal level for Gilmore.

“It will be a tough ask for whoever is preselected to stand in Gilmore and I’m certainly not kidding myself about that.

“I’m an active member of the Shoalhaven Business Chamber and want to make sure my representation is not just about being Aboriginal but being an advocate for the whole business community and electorate.

“I want to listen to the electorate and make sure I’m representing what they expect.

“I know there will be other candidates, who come out of the woodwork and that will be good to have a strong preselection process. It will lead to a strong and healthy campaign for the electorate of Gilmore to get the very best representation we can for Labor, in order to take on this current government.”

If Mr Moore is preselected and then successfully wins the next federal election he would make history as the first Aboriginal to be elected to the lower house for the Labor Party.

A date for the Labor preselection has not been set.