First meet the candidates forum held in Tamworth

While incumbent Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce and United Australia Party candidate Cindy Duncan were absent, the other candidates fielded questions ranging from social welfare and Aboriginal issues, to the power of an independent candidate.

Greens candidate Tony Lonergan was frank in his assessment of the upcoming election.

"New England has a choice between Barnaby Joyce and an independent," Mr Lonergan said.

"No offence to [Labor candidate] Yvonne Langenberg, but you're not going to win, and I'm not going to win either. I'd like to see people vote for an independent."

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Adam Blakester, one of the three independents running, said unconstrained politicians could be "incredibly influential", even in a majority parliament.

"An independent is never in opposition, they can work right across the parliament," Mr Blakester said.

"The real influence of independents - and the history shows this - is that when there is a shared priority in an electorate, it's not just that one person working on it. It's the whole community working together.

"The short answer is, 'it's not me, it's we'."

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Fellow independent Rob Taber said the political party system was tearing the nation apart.

"It's been proven in the past that if you have an independent member, the government will throw money at that seat to try and win it back," he said.

Christian Democrats candidate Julie Collins and independent Natasha Ledger both spoke passionately about the issues facing the Aboriginal community, particularly around child welfare.

Ms Langenberg said with her background as a nurse, she preferred preventative measures over "bandaid solutions".

"That's properly funding education, TAFE, having meaning jobs and a decent income," she said.