On April 21, it was revealed that the SFF had failed to find a candidate they "were happy to endorse or that were comfortable to represent the area" of Calare.

Having garnered more than 18,000 votes - good for 17.4 per cent - in the previous election, those votes will now need to be redirected to another party.

Tim Basily is the NSW state director at Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party and was asked if the SFF would be recommending party preferences for Calare, despite not running a candidate.

"We'll be on the senate ticket, so we'd ask for our supporters to give us a one on the senate and then I'd say for the house of reps, we're not running, so for us it wouldn't make sense to recommend preferences there or recommend where to vote," he said.

"People can be unengaged but they can't be unaffected. We'd suggest that everyone makes an educated decision and reads up on policies, reads up on the different parties and candidates running and make the decision based off their lifestyle."

In 2019, SFF candidate Sam Romano ran third in the Calare election, behind Labor (22.1 per cent) and incumbent Nationals MP Andrew Gee (44.7 per cent).

Asked where he thought those 18,000-odd votes would find themselves this election, Mr Basily said it was "hard to say."

"2019 was state election, different boundaries, different towns," he added.

"2022 is a different ballgame. You've got a federal government that from 2019 to 2022, we've been in lockdown for the majority of that time. I think people have their own concerns and issues that are different to 2019."

Although Mr Basily said the party would not be recommending votes to any particular party, the question was posed as to whether there were any other parties or candidates in Calare that he thought closely aligned with the SFF policies.

"We're a unique party in ourselves so it would be hard to find a candidate or a party that was too similar to us or replicates what we do," he added.

"So the best answer I could give is to suggest reading up on policies and making the decision based off what they are looking for in government or what they're expecting out of their local member."

The Calare electorate covers an area of 32,66 square kilometres, ranging from Lithgow in the east to Eugowra in the west, Wellington and Mid-Western Regional Councils in the north to Blayney Shire Council and Oberon Council down in the south.

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