Hosted by NSW Farmers and moderated by ABC rural reporter Olivia Calver over two hours, the debate remained civil aside from a few tense moments towards the end of the evening.

First on the agenda was transport, of which the inland rail project dominated discussion.

Incumbent Nationals candidate Michael McCormack said the $20 billion project, designed to improve freight speeds and weight limits between Brisbane and Melbourne, will bring "hundreds" of jobs to the region and will only increase from 12 trains up to 14 by 2027.

Independent Pennie Scott - who would have run as the Riverina's sole female candidate if she had lodged her candidacy by the deadline - questioned the panel on the project and claimed there will be more trains coming through Wagga than disclosed by the government.

Mr McCormack refuted the claims and said the only difference is the trains will be double-stacked.

Labor candidate Mark Jeffreson is a supporter of the project and said it's "a bit of a shame it's taken ten years" to get it off the ground after the last Labor government set aside money to investigate merits of the project - to which Mr McCormack responded, "It was a great Labor party proposal and it took the Nationals to build it."

Most candidates spoke in support of the project aside from Independent Darren Ciavarella, who cited noise concerns and said on a broader scale there are unused train tracks in Wagga "going to waste".

"You can't justify how [the government] can spend so much money on these new projects when there's rail tracks there that could take people to Melbourne or to Sydney that aren't being facilitated or used," he said.

Liberal Democrat candidate Dean McRae agreed that existing rail lines should be rebooted, and United Australia Party candidate Daniel Martelozzo said the way the project is currently being delivered is "not in the interest of the Riverina".

A number of candidates raised concerns over a lack of consultation, including Greens candidate Michael Organ.

"There's lots of issues being raised by the community and it's about time the inland rail sat down with the community and said 'what's the best option' - is it to go through the middle of town, or where should the inland rail go," he said.

Speaking more broadly about transport Shooters, Fishers and Farmers candidate Steve Karaitiana wants to see B-double access to all farm gates, Mr Ciavarella wants roads widened to accommodate large trucks, and Mr McRae wants more corporate investment instead of seeing transport projects managed across all three levels of government.

"We would also like to see most of the public transport infrastructure being either privatised or handed out in conjunction with private companies who know their way around managing businesses, because governments tend to struggle in that area," Mr McRae said.

Another hot-topic issue candidates were grilled on is how they plan to balance the needs of the agricultural sector with new forms of energy generation.

Nearly all candidates emphasised the importance of protecting prime agricultural land, including One Nation candidate Richard Orchard - who acknowledged the "first founders of modern Australia" and the "efforts of our British ancestors who decided to found this country" during his opening statements, immediately following the Welcome to Country.

Mr Ciavarella said rivers and dams should be utilised to a greater extent as sources of energy generation, whilst Mr McRae and Mr Martelozzo both touted nuclear as the way forward.

Mr McRae also garnered audience support for his stance that the government needs to "give [farmers their] farms back".

"Each farmer should choose how their farm is run, choose how it's managed and choose how it's operated," the Liberal Democrats candidate said.

"Government should have next to no involvement, the least amount humanly possible."

Greens candidate Mr Organ, on the other hand, said renewable energy sources provide an opportunity for the farming sector.

"It can provide energy independence through local power grids, solar wind can generate income on farms and, for example, with solar panels you can build them up a bit higher so sheep can potter around underneath them," he said.

Speaking on agriculture, Mr McCormack said one of the biggest challenges for farms is accessing labour, and that the government is working on an agriculture visa.

"We've already got arrangements in place with Vietnam, we're working on other ASEAN countries and will certainly move to step up the Pacific labour force to ensure that when all the travel restrictions end we can get those people," he said.

Mr McRae argued that bringing workers from the Pacific is a "follow-up" solution, instead arguing that welfare recipients should be required to complete agricultural work.

When asked about key services such as aged care, childcare and healthcare, incumbent Mr McCormack said his focus is on making sure healthcare workers begin and end their training in Wagga.

"If you train doctors in the bush, chances are you're going to retain them," he said.

Mr Karaitiana said the centralisation of key services in major towns is "a worry", while Mr Martelozzo and Mr McRae argued that ending COVID-19 vaccination mandates is key to job security.

Mr Ciavarella and Mr Jeffreson both questioned where the money has actually gone over recent years within these sectors, calling for greater transparency and specific criteria for government spending.

Mr Organ said a challenge facing these sectors is the casualisation of the workforce.

"We need to be paying the workers in these areas good money so they're incentivised to do a good job," he said.

None of the candidates directly addressed the childcare portion of the question.

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A final fiery question from the audience was whether the candidates support a federal Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) with "real teeth that is retrospective and applies to all politicians and all members of government".

Seven candidates responded "yes", with Mr McRae providing the lone "no" answer, arguing that police should already be investigating matters of corruption.

Greens' Mr Organ spoke passionately about the need for a federal ICAC.

"This is a corrupt government and we need to get rid of them and we need to bring ethics and morality and integrity back to the federal system, and you're not going to get it with this government," he said.

One Nation candidate Mr Orchard also stood up and called on Labor candidate Mr Jeffreson and Nationals Mr McCormack individually, asking why their governments haven't already introduced one.

Mr Jeffreson said a federal ICAC is needed because it's the only jurisdiction without one, and Mr McCormack gave the one-word response "yes", because the audience member had asked candidates to respond yes or no (even though candidates did have 60 seconds to respond).

NSW Farmers Wagga District branch manager Alan Brown said the candidates forum was "very successful".

"I was very pleased that all the candidates made a big effort to turn up, which is great," he said.

"They were hit with a lot of questions that they had to answer without notice, which I thought was challenging. But if you aspire to a job in that area, you've got to be able to handle speaking off the cuff."

Mr Brown also said he is "greatly disappointed" the Riverina doesn't have a female candidate this election, leaving "a yawning gap" in his opinion.

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