Federal Member for Parkes, Mark Coulton celebrates his fifteenth year in office today (Thursday, November 24).

Mr Coulton took over the seat of Parkes from incumbent MP John Cobb who chose to contest the seat of Calare following electoral border changes leading into 2007 - he has since been reelected six consecutive times.

"When I was first elected back in 2007, I certainly didn’t expect I'd still be here 15 years late," Mr Coulton said.

"I'm extremely proud of everything we've been able to achieve over the past fifteen years and it's heartening to see the progress and development of communities throughout the electorate."

But it hasn’t always been a smooth ride; the electorate has undergone substantial changes over the years.

Back in 2007, Parkes stretched from Mudgee up to the Moree in the North, and only extended as far west as Lightning Ridge!

Nowadays it covers an area bigger than some countries; sprawling from Broken Hill up to the Queensland border before heading all the way east to Dubbo and Moree.

"It is an all-consuming job; it takes a lot of energy to cover an electorate the size of mine, but I draw passion and enthusiasm from the people I'm working with," Mr Coulton said

"The relationships and friendships that I've built up over the fifteen years have been the best part of the job."

Mr. Coulton says that Inland Rail is one of his proudest achievements while in office

Coulton has overseen fifteen years' worth of projects and progress in the state's largest electorate, when asked, however, three came to mind.

"When it comes to projects I'm most proud of, it would have to be the Western Cancer Centre which is providing life-saving treatment to people throughout Western NSW, and Inland Rail which will transform our national freight and supply chain capabilities."

"I'm also proud to have been involved in the establishment of the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program which is underpinning so much of the great work local councils have been undertaking in recent years."

Mark Coulton celebrates his sixth straight re-election in May

Mr Coulton says that holding the seat for such a long time has allowed him to do the job properly - a chance not given to most members of parliament.

"I worked out early on that it does take some time to learn how to do this job and to get to know the people that you represent. Once I was in a position where I'd built up those relationships, I didn’t want to throw those away."

"I felt it was important that I did this job for a reasonable length of time to be able to make positive change and get things done."

"I'm just as passionate about being the Member for Parkes as I was fifteen years ago, and I look forward to continuing to represent my constituents into the future."