NAT 19.9%
Incumbent MP
Mark Coulton, since 2007.
Geography
Parkes covers large parts of western NSW, stretching from Dubbo in the southeastern corner of the seat to Moree in the northeast and Broken Hill in the west. It covers most of the Gwydir council area and all of 17 other local government areas, namely Broken Hill, Central Darling, Dubbo, Lachlan, Narromine, Moree Plains, Narrabri, Bogan, Bourke, Brewarrina, Cobar, Coonamble, Gilgandra, Gunnedah, Walgett, Warren and Warrumbungle.
Redistribution
Parkes gained Broken Hill, Central Darling Shire and unincorporated parts of New South Wales from Farrer and gained Gunnedah from New England. Parkes also lost southern parts of Gwydir Shire to New England and lost Wellington and Mid-Western council areas to Calare. These changes cut the Nationals margin from 22.4% to 19.9%.
History
The seat of Parkes was created as part of the expansion of the federal Parliament in 1984 as a seat in the west of NSW. It has always been held by the National Party. It shares its name with an earlier seat of Parkes, which was located in suburban Sydney from Federation until its abolition in 1969. The seat of Parkes is named after early NSW premier Henry Parkes, rather than the town of Parkes, which is not contained within the seat.
Parkes was first won in 1984 by National Party candidate Michael Cobb. Cobb held the seat for 14 years, retiring in 1998 after being convicted of offenses related to rorting his travel expenses. He was replaced by Tony Lawler, who held the seat for one term, retiring in 2001.
The seat was won in 2001 by John Cobb. Cobb served as a junior minister in the Howard government from 2005 to 2007. The redistribution before the 2006 election shifted the boundaries of Parkes towards the abolished seat of Gwydir, with much of the northwest transferred into Calare, and Cobb was elected as the Member for Calare. He was succeeded in Parkes by former Mayor of Gwydir Shire, Mark Coulton. Coulton was re-elected in 2010 and 2013.
Candidates
- Kate Stewart (Labor)
- Glen Ryan (Christian Democratic Party)
- John Ayton (Online Direct Democracy)
- Matt Parmeter (Greens)
- Mark Coulton (Nationals)
Assessment
Parkes is a very safe Nationals seat.
2013 result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Mark Coulton | Nationals | 58,020 | 64.0 | +4.8 | 62.1 |
| Brendan Byron | Labor | 18,850 | 20.8 | -0.5 | 21.8 |
| Neil John Gorman | Palmer United Party | 6,724 | 7.4 | +7.4 | 7.1 |
| Matt Parmeter | Greens | 4,691 | 5.2 | -0.4 | 5.0 |
| Michelle Ryan | Christian Democratic Party | 2,354 | 2.6 | +2.6 | 2.3 |
| Others | 2.3 | ||||
| Informal | 5,519 | 6.1 |
2013 two-party-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Mark Coulton | Nationals | 65,575 | 72.4 | +3.5 | 69.9 |
| Brendan Byron | Labor | 25,064 | 27.7 | -3.5 | 30.1 |
Booth breakdown
Booths have been divided into five parts. Polling places in the Dubbo and Broken Hill urban areas have been grouped together, and the remaining booths have been split into central, east and west.
The Nationals won large majorities in four out of five areas, ranging from 68% in the west to 75.5% in the east.
Labor won 57.3% in Broken Hill.
| Voter group | NAT 2PP % | Total votes | % of votes |
| East | 75.5 | 19,201 | 21.6 |
| Dubbo | 71.0 | 12,321 | 13.9 |
| Central | 70.5 | 10,807 | 12.2 |
| West | 68.0 | 7,459 | 8.4 |
| Broken Hill | 42.7 | 5,569 | 6.3 |
| Other votes | 74.1 | 33,392 | 37.6 |
My prediction: Easy National hold.