Last week, the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) announced its 2024 redistribution proposal for New South Wales, which will see the Division of Parkes grow to include the Bland, Forbes and Parkes shire councils, while losing the remainder of the Gwydir Shire to the Division of New England.

The electorate, represented by Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton currently covers a geographical area of 393,413 square kilometres – already well and truly the largest in NSW, covering 49 per cent of the state.

These changes will see it grow even further to approximately 406,755 square kilometres. The redistribution will see the number of members in the House of Representatives decrease from 47 to 46.

Redistribution is not uncommon in NSW electorates but in an electorate the size of Parkes it does bring challenges Mr Coulton said.

“The biggest challenge for whoever is the next Member for Parkes will be the increase in geographical size of the Parkes electorate. Each time there has been a boundary change, the Parkes electorate has grown, and this time is no different," he said.

“Overall, the proposed redistribution is not a bad result for the electorate of Parkes – we’re gaining some strong towns in Parkes, Forbes and West Wyalong which I’m sure will only add to this great electorate,” Mr Coulton said.

“I am sorry to see the upper half of the Gwydir Shire, which includes my hometown of Warialda, move to the New England electorate. That means that once I retire at the next election, I will no longer live in the Parkes electorate which is personally disappointing, having represented this electorate for so long and been so invested in it."

Changes to the Parkes electorate have been made to accommodate low or negative projected growth in elector numbers.

Enrolment in the current Division of Parkes on Monday 10 April 2028 is projected to be 109,528 electors, which is less than the minimum number of projected electors required by the Electoral Act.

The Division of Parkes therefore had to gain at least 15,557 electors, or up to 24,629 electors, for it to fall within the permissible range for the maximum and minimum number of electors in an electoral division at the projection time.

The new division will see projected enrolment as at Monday 10 April 2028 be 128,178 people.

Ross Earl, CEO of the Far North West Joint Organisation and currently acting General Manager of Bourke Shire Council said while the change in boundaries was not uncommon, this one has particular challenges.

"As a size the electorate increases, obviously it makes it more difficult for the local member to get around," Mr Earl said. "You will certainly see that the areas of Parkes. There will be a lot more additional work to carry out in the extra space."

"Mark Coulton's electorate is a huge area - it’s almost the size of five Tasmanias when you consider Tasmania is 68,401 km2 and this electorate is now 406,755 square kilometres," Mr Earl said.

The proposed boundary changes will see the massive Parkes electorate grow even further. IMAGE: AEC

Mr Coulton is getting on with the job as usual, with the focus on selecting a candidate to contest the Division of Parkes at the next election when he retires.

“I look forward to working with whoever is preselected over the coming months to help them get to know this wonderful electorate,” he said.

Mr Earl, who has worked with Mr Coulton over many years, said they will be huge shoes to fill.

"Mark has done a lot of kilometres in his electorate and been a great representative for his constituents," Mr Earl said.

The Parkes electorate is not alone in facing changes.

The redistribution will see the number of members in the House of Representatives decrease from 47 to 46 in NSW, with the abolishment of the Division of North Sydney.

This means the boundaries of each federal electoral division in the state had to be altered to accommodate this change.

See what the Electoral Commission has to say about the NSW boundary changes in the video below

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 You can object

Individuals and organisations can lodge objections to the Redistribution Committee’s proposed divisions.

Written objections must be lodged no later than 6pm AEST on Friday 12 July 2024.

The best way to lodge an objection is online. Objections can also be submitted via:

• Email – [email protected]
• Post – Australian Electoral Commission (Att: NSW Redistribution Secretariat), Locked Bag 4007, Canberra ACT 2601
• Suite 13.03, 59 Goulburn Street, Haymarket

The new electorates are expected to be formally adopted in October this year.

All objections received by the deadline will be available for public inspection on the redistributions website and at the office of the Australian Electoral Officer for New South Wales in Haymarket (during business hours only) from Monday 15 July 2024.

Further comments will then be accepted until 6pm AEST on Friday 26 July 2024.