Election 2025: Calare candidates and what they stand for

From those fighting to legalise cannabis to others wanting to keep cash king, a host of political candidates are in the race to secure votes for a vast electorate in the state’s central west. Make up your mind here.

The contest to win Calare is heating up with 10 candidates – including incumbent independent Andrew Gee – throwing their akubras in the ring to represent a large chunk of the state’s central west.

Among those hoping to snatch the seat off Mr Gee are independent Kate Hook and National Sam Farraway.

The major parties of Labor and the Greens are also in the race as are Pauline Hanson’s One Nation and the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers’ Party.

The division spans 32,648sq km and encompasses Bathurst, Blayney Shire, Cabonne, Lithgow, Mid-Western, Oberon, Orange and parts of Dubbo councils.

We posed a series of questions to the candidates.

Jennifer Hughes, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation

What inspired you to run for the seat?

As a proud Australian and a mother, I am deeply concerned with the direction this country is heading.

This is not the country I grew up in and it is not the Australia I want for my children.

We are being taxed into oblivion, our children are being indoctrinated at school, mass immigration is making it impossible for Australians to find rentals or buy a home, net zero hysteria is destroying the environment and the economy, and enough is enough!

Jennifer Hughes is the Pauline Hanson One Nation candidate for Calare.

What do you see as the biggest issues for this election and how do they apply to the region?

The cost-of-living crisis. Australians are hurting and our government has turned its back on us. High taxes, low wages, expensive energy, skyrocketing supermarket and fuel prices are making it impossible for Australians to keep their heads above water.

What is your top three wish list for the electorate?

The great Australian dream of home ownership, scrap net zero and withdraw Australia from the Paris Agreement, and build appropriate infrastructure to keep up with continued population growth.

Ross Hazelton, Family First Party

What inspired you to run for the seat?

I am not a career politician. I am a tradesman that works a regular job alongside regular people. I have found it heartbreaking watching the downward trajectory our beautiful nation has been heading in politically and socially over recent years.

I believe all the chaos and disorder we are seeing all around us is due to the fact that we have abandoned the Christian heritage on which our country was founded.

Family First candidate Ross Hazelton.

What do you see as the biggest issues for this election and how do they apply to the region?

I believe green energy obsession is the main cause of the unprecedented spike in cost of living that we are now experiencing.

What is your top three wishlist for the electorate?

I would like to see a stop to any more wind turbines or solar farms being built in our beautiful countryside.

I would like to see house prices come back down to a reasonable level so that our young people can afford to buy into the market.

I would like to see traditional family values brought back to centre stage because healthy functioning families lead to healthy functioning societies.

Andrew Gee, independent

What inspired you to run for the seat again?

I got into politics because I could see that there were things people were getting in the cities, that we weren’t getting in the bush.

As I said in my very first speech to parliament, my mission has and always will be to

bridge that great divide between city and country. I’ve been fighting and delivering for

the communities of the Central West since 2011.

Andrew Gee is the Calare federal independent MP and hopes to retain his seat.

What do you see as the biggest issues for this election and how do they apply to the region?

The devastating impact the cost-of-living crisis is having on our region which includes sky-high grocery, energy and insurance bills.

The rural doctor shortage crisis is another major issue, to that you can add many others including housing affordability, the lack of an expressway through the mountains to Sydney and a shortage of childcare workers.

What is your top three wish list for the electorate?

I have a long list of priorities, including: An expressway through the Blue Mountains to Sydney, a Veterans’ and Families’ Wellbeing Centre for the Calare electorate; a crossing over the Macquarie River at Dixons Long Point and getting my Bills through parliament to fix the rural doctor shortage crisis; ban the foreign buying of residential property for two years; break up the market power of the supermarket giants; keep cash king in Australia and ban

wind farms in state forests.

Sue Raye, Legalise Cannabis Party

Sue Ray is a passionate advocate for personal freedom, compassion, and commonsense cannabis law reform. Sue believes no one should be criminalised for using a plant – especially when it can support health, wellbeing and economic resilience. She stands for civil liberties, an end to discrimination and practical solutions like home growing to ease cost-of-living pressures.

What inspired you to run for the seat?

I’m standing for Calare with the Legalise Cannabis Party because I believe in personal freedom, health choice and regional opportunity. People in our community should not be criminalised for growing a plant. Legalising cannabis can support farmers, small businesses and people who rely on it for medical or therapeutic reasons.

What do you see as the biggest issues for this election and how do they apply to the region?

The biggest issue is the cost of living. For many in Calare, growing your own cannabis for medicine or wellness could offer real relief — both financially and personally. Legalising home grow means people don’t have to rely on expensive or inaccessible options and can care for themselves without fear of prosecution.

What is your top three wish list for the electorate?

Legalise the personal use and home cultivation of cannabis.

End discrimination against unimpaired cannabis users, including unfair roadside drug driving laws and workplace drug testing that targets people using legally prescribed or responsibly consumed cannabis.

Support local agriculture by opening up opportunities for industrial hemp and regulated cannabis industries across the region.

Kate Hook, Independent

What inspired you to run for the seat?

I was inspired to run because I believe the people of Calare deserve a representative who listens, puts community first and focuses on practical solutions – not party politics. After working in small business, in community-led renewable energy and raising my family in the region, I’ve seen the strength of our communities, but also the challenges we face when government isn’t paying attention.

Kate Hook is running as as independent for Calare.

What do you see as the biggest issues for this election and how do they apply to the region?

The big issues in this election are cost of living, health care and climate. In Calare, that means unaffordable housing, long waits for doctors and a renewable energy rollout that must be done with – not to – our communities.

What is your top three wish list for the electorate?

My top three priorities are: Investing in local health services and attracting more GPs; delivering affordable housing and support for first-home buyers; Ensuring regional communities benefit from the clean energy transition – with good jobs, reliable power and proper consultation..

Vicki Elizabeth O’Leary, Ben Parker, Jase Lesage, Julie Cunningham and Sam Farraway did not respond to questions.

Originally published as Election 2025: Calare candidates and what they stand for