Outgoing federal MP Mark Coulton said Gunnedah will always remain close to his heart.

During a visit to the region late last month, the retiring MP described his 17 years in parliament as “an absolute privilege” to serve.

“It’s my mother’s home town, so I’ve always had that affinity here and I’m very proud to represent such a strong community,” Mr Coulton said.

He said Gunnedah’s economic prospects remain strong and the volume of traffic was a good indication of its prosperity.

“If you want to judge a town, you just need to look at the main street. If you’re having trouble parking, things are going pretty well,” he said.

“It’s a bustling town and I’ll be sad to leave it but my time is up, it’s time to move on.”

The electorate of Parkes covers an area of 406,755 sq km – about 50 per cent of New South Wales.

The division of Parkes underwent substantial changes in the Australian Electoral Commission’s 2016 electoral boundaries redistribution, which saw the inclusion of the City Council of Broken Hill, Central Darling Shire Council and the Gunnedah Shire Council areas. Another electorate boundary change last year added three additional local government areas to Parkes including Bland, Forbes and Parkes shire councils while losing the remainder of the Gwydir Shire to the Division of New England.

Mr Coulton was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2007, and re-elected in 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019 and 2022 elections.

Prior to his time in parliament, Mr Coulton was Gwydir Shire Council mayor.

He hoped the Gunnedah region would remember his time as the Parkes’ representative as “one of them who has gone on to represent in Canberra”.

“I’ve been given a great privilege by the support from Gunnedah,” he said.

“They voted for me very strongly and that given me the opportunity to be involved in health policy and local government and a range of other things.

“I’m very honoured to be given that and hope some of the things I’ve done will be reflected on the lives of the people here.”

The Australian Parliament resumed in Canberra on Monday for its first sitting week of the year.

The 2025 federal election will be held on or before May 17. Federal elections must be held at least once in every three years on a date determined by the Governor General, upon request by the government.

Mark and Robyn Coulton cutting the cake in 2023 to celebrate 15 years representing the Parkes electorate at the federal level.

To order photos from this page click here