After months of speculation, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called a press conference at Parliament House on Friday, March 28, to announce the federal election would be held on Saturday, May 3 – a move that stole major momentum and thunder from the Opposition’s budget reply.

In the outgoing parliament, Labor held 71 of 151 seats in the House of Representatives, giving it an overall majority.

The Coalition (Liberals and Nationals) held 52 seats, the Greens four and Independents 13, with one each from the Centre Alliance party and Katter’s Australia party.

After 17 years as the Member for Parkes, Mark Coulton is retiring from federal politics to spend more time with his family and enjoy what he has described as 'a much-needed retirement'. The seat has been held by Mr Coulton since 2007 and is considered a very safe Nationals’ seat with a margin of 18.1 per cent.

Jamie Chaffey is The Nationals’ candidate for Parkes and has been campaigning around the electorate since October last year.

Mr Chaffey is the former mayor of Gunnedah after being elected to council in September, 2016.

The Libertarians, Greens and Family First parties have all put forward their candidates for Parkes, but Labor is yet to announce if they are putting a candidate forward.

Libertarian candidate and Dunedoo local, Sally Edwards, began campaigning earlier this year on a sentiment of less big government and more empowered decision-making by individuals and their communities.

Greens candidate and second-term councillor at Brewarrina Shire Council, Trish Frail, says on her website she is 100 per cent committed to the community and wants to prioritise the environment across the electorate.

Ms Frail is a Ngemba woman and has sat on a number of boards and committees including the Brewarrina Hospital Board and is a co-founder of the Aboriginal Women’s Legal Centre.

Family First candidate and Alectown local, Maurice Davey, is a fourth-generation farmer and grazier and is proud of his multi-generational Christian heritage. Mr Davey is campaigning on a religious Judeo-Christian platform and is passionate about the preservation and active nurture of the family unit, recognising it as the building block of a happy and prosperous society.

All the candidates so far announced for Parkes will be campaigning in their first federal election, except for Greens candidate Trish Frail who was a candidate at the 2022 election when she received just under five per cent of the vote.

Parkes itself has grown in size again since the 2022 federal election and now covers over 50 per cent of NSW – almost twice the size of Victoria.

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) announced last year that the Division of Parkes would now include Bland, Forbes and Parkes shire councils, while losing the remainder of the Gwydir Shire to the Division of New England.