Biography
 John Cobb was born at Bathurst and grew up on the family property near Mt Hope, about 100km north-west of Condobolin. He still operates a farm in the region as well as one near his new home town of Molong.
John began his working life as many farming sons do, he went jackarooing in Queensland, spent some time as an overseer, worked on a mine near Mt Hope, spent 12 months on the Sydney to Moomba gas pipeline, and worked on the family property. This gave him a solid grounding in rural life.
His family life and his professional career have been concentrated on the Central West. John enjoyed raising his many daughters on the family property and is now enjoying the pleasures of being a (rather young) grandfather.
In the 1980s John became increasingly frustrated at the way policies affecting regional NSW were being made, by politicians and bureaucrats in the city with no knowledge or regard for regional areas. He joined the NSW Farmers Association with the drive to do something about it and began a 15-year agri-political career that culminated with a three-year term as president of the Association.
In agri-politics, the issues that John fought for included increasing the number of doctors in regional areas, better telecommunications services for rural communities and property rights for landholders - particularly the ability of farmers to continue farming their land to feed Australians.
In 2001 John decided to take his passions to the Federal arena and stood for the Federal seat of Parkes. He was successful in 2001 and returned, with an increased majority, at the 2004 election.
In Government, John has enjoyed a varied career. He was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Transport and Regional Services in October 2004. In this capacity he was responsible for administering the highly successful Regional Partnerships program and heavy vehicle transport policy.
In July 2005 John was appointed the Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, taking responsibility for policy regarding Australian citizenship, various aspects of our cultural diversity and Australia's migration program.
In January 2006 John became the Minister for Families and Community Services, administering the department that operates Centrelink and the income support and assistance for families and their children, senior citizens, people with disabilities, carers and community groups. John was also involved in the Australian Government's whole-of-government approach to programs for Indigenous Australians through the Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination.
In January 2007 as part of the Australian Government's $10 billion plan to address the problems of water availability in the Murray-Darling Basin, John was appointed Assistant Minister for the Environment and Water.
A redistribution of NSW Federal seats in 2007 changed John's electorate of Parkes dramatically. About 80 per cent of the former seat of Parkes was allocated to the seat of Calare – which more than tripled its original size.
After much soul-searching, John decided in 2007 to maintain his connection with the Central West and contested the "new" Calare at election. As he said, when he announced his decision, "I decided to follow my heart, and the Central West is my heartland".
After the 2007 election, John was appointed to the Shadow Cabinet position of Shadow Minister for Regional Development and Water Security. A Shadow Cabinet reshuffle in September 2008 saw John appointed to the portfolio for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.
With another Shadow Cabinet reshuffle in December 2009, John then gained the responsibility of “Food Security” within his portfolio and became Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Food Security, Fisheries and Forestry.
2009 saw yet another boundary change to Federal electorate seats and the seat of Calare changed dramatically again, losing the entire western division of NSW and taking on a very distinct Central West feel. John successfully contended the August 2010 election and even though Calare was considered a marginal seat, John won with 60 per cent of the vote and achieved a swing of over 7 per cent. Since the 2010 election John has now taken on the portfolio of Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Food Security.
The Calare electorate today covers an area of over 30,000 sq km, spanning from Lithgow in the east to Tullamore in the west. Calare takes in eight Local Government Areas including Parkes Shire Council, Forbes Shire Council, Cabonne Shire Council, Orange City Council, Blayney Shire Council, Bathurst Regional Council, Lithgow City Council and Oberon Shire Council. John now has two offices to service the Calare electorate, with one located in Orange and the recently opened Bathurst office.
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