While a date has yet to be set, the election is anticipated to be called for Saturday in May, giving voters about two months to figure out which candidates they will support.

Bathurst falls into the electorate of Calare, a long-time Nationals safe seat, but in politics, anything can change.

According to a survey of Western Advocate readers, the top three issues likely to determine their vote are the environment and climate change, health, and economic management.

Dominic O'Sullivan, a Charles Sturt University political science professor, said it's not surprising that these issues are front of mind for Bathurst voters.

"They are consistent with what other surveys have shown nationally over quite some time, and I think if we look at the floods that are going on around NSW at the moment and the connection there with climate change, the bushfires that we had recently ... it's not difficult to see why climate change is so prominent," he said.

"The Federal Government's reluctance to set ambitious policy targets and to bring Australia into line with international thinking also puts the issue at the forefront of people's minds as they contemplate how they will vote."

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Professor O'Sullivan also noted the demographics of the Western Advocate's readers, which includes people from the farming industry, who would be concerned about climate issues.

He said that farmers have traditionally supported The Nationals, but that could be starting the shift.

"In recent times, although the farming community still offers a great deal of support to The National Party, The National Party's political priorities seem to lie with mining over farming when there is a conflict between the two, and that means that climate policy perhaps isn't getting the level of attention that perhaps would be in the interests of farmers, for example, and people in the Advocate's readership area," he said.

Regarding health, Professor O'Sullivan believes the government's management of the COVID pandemic in more recent times, particularly with the vaccine rollout, would have put that issue in people's minds.

While he predicts that The Nationals will retain the seat of Calare, he does anticipate that there will be a swing away from the Coalition at the election.

"I think a big contributing factor is that this is a second-term government," Professor O'Sullivan said.

"Towards this stage in the life of a government people start to get a bit more critical of what they see."

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