Gunnedah voters will head to the polls on July 2 in a new seat, following a boundary redistribution that will see the town moved out of New England.

Four candidates are currently in the running and include sitting Nationals member Mark Coulton, Labor’s Kate Stewart, Matt Parmeter from the Greens and Glen Ryan from the Christian Democratic Party. 

Mining seems to be one of the big issues of the campaign with the controversial Shenhua mine now in the seat of Parkes while half of the proposed Caroona project straddles the electorate with New England. 

Mr Coulton said there’s a “very strict” process in place that assesses such projects and supports the strengthening of the water trigger legislation and independent panel.

“I’ve always said the long term future of the North West is in agriculture, but if mining can co-exist then I think we should look at that,” Mr Coulton said.

“Gunnedah has been a mining town for a long time. I’m waiting to see where the process is and I don’t think it’s a sure thing whether it [the Shenhua mine] will go ahead or not. The ball is in the court of Shenhua.”

Mr Coulton added he’s “not for one minute sticking up” for the Shenhua project and if he is successful  in  the election, he’ll take interest in “everyone” he represents.

Greens candidate Matt Parmeter, who is based in Dubbo and works as a public servant in water and sewerage services, has a strict view on mining.

“No to coal seam gas and no to new coal,” he said. 

“The Greens don’t support the Shenhua Watermark Project and we think we should be a society based on renewable energy and move away from fossil fuels.”

The Greens candidate said the government should be investing money in renewables to create jobs, and listed solar power stations in Nyngan, Broken Hill and Moree as examples of employment growth. 

He added that health and education are other issues he will be campaigning on, and took aim at the federal government for failing to support public TAFE colleges and the full Gonski model for schools. 

He also wants to move to a fee-free university education.

Labor candidate Kate Stewart said she supports mining, but only if the proper environmental process is followed.

“As long as those controls are in place and that farmers and our productive lands are considered and looked after to avoid damage through a mine and that townspeople and others are not negatively impacted - particularly with health effects - and can restore the area after the mine has gone, a mine is not unreasonable,” Ms Stewart said. 

She also criticised the fact that rural and regional patients had to travel long distances for health services and pay more for extra medical treatment as well as the federal government’s focus on education.

“The Nationals have not been a voice that values our children’s education,” Ms Stewart said. 

“Our kids deserve a decent education.”

Mr Coulton poured cold water on comments over a lack of funding for education and said the two years Labor talk of returning that is “unfunded”.

“The people I represent, they want the best for their kids but they also don’t want their kids paying for debts and they don’t support irresponsible spending,” he said. 

“This idea that education is starved for funding is a bit of a furphy when we should be more focused on the results.”

Mr Coulton said on recent visits to Gunnedah, businesses have talked about  looking at other opportunities if mining came off the boil and the strength in loca manufacturing. 

The new Parkes electorate has now grown to an enormous size - half of the state of NSW. 

It is now 393,000 square kilometres - growing another 150,000 after the boundary restructure. 

It takes 12-13 hours to drive across entire electorate by car. 

The Nationals MP said the electoral commission was “lazy” in its proposal, with the party putting in a submission over the size of the seat. 

When asked about concerns regarding voter representation over such a large area, Mr Coulton said you’ve got to be organised and plan things out weeks ahead.

“I’ve been in the job three terms now and I live on the road. If anyone can do it, I believe I can with the experience I’ve got,” Mr Coulton said. 

Mr Parmeter compared the Parkes contest to a David and Goliath battle.

“The Nationals have held this seat for a long time and have got an established candidate,” he said. 

“We’re a long shot but we’re in there having a go.”

Kate Stewart said there needs to be a strong “commitment in rural and regional Australia because that’s a reflection of our identity”.

After the last election, Mr Coulton secured the Parkes seat with a 72.3 per cent  two-party preferred vote. 

The Namoi Valley Independent attempted to contact Christian Democratic Party candidate Glen Ryan for comment, but was unsuccessful. 

One Nation said it is still currently interviewing candidates for a variety of seats and is yet to confirm if  it will field a candidate in Parkes.