Residents have contacted the Daily Liberal claiming they have received a robo-call asking the question; who would you vote for in pre-selection in the seat of Parkes, Troy Grant or Mark Coulton?

Mr Coulton said he thought the calls were phoney.

“I am certainly standing for pre-selection in the seat of Parkes for the next federal election,” he said.

“I have no idea about these calls; this is the first time I have heard of them. Troy has announced his retirement from politics and the timing is off.

“There is no guarantee the federal election won’t be held before the state election; this robo-call sounds completely bogus to me.”

However, Mr Coulton said he would make inquiries into the calls.

“I have no knowledge of them, but I’ll certainly call the National Party state director to see if he knows about them,” he said.

“I think this is a case of someone playing mischief, logically why would the Nationals do it after a state candidate has been announced for the Dubbo seat and Troy has openly stated he is retiring. I also can’t see why an opponent would do it either; it makes no sense because all it does is confuse people.”

Mr Grant said he is retiring from politics.

“I have no interest in federal politics I’m retiring from public service after 30 years of service and am looking forward to the next chapter of my life,” he said. “I have no knowledge who is responsible for the robocalls using my name and I have not given anyone permission to use my name for that purpose.

“I will be supporting Dugald Saunders to be elected as my successor so that the electorate continues to thrive in the golden age of investment we have worked so hard to achieve. Mark Coulton has been part of that success story and I fully support him being re-elected so that he and Dugald can form a formidable team together for our communities and our futures.”