Electoral boundaries face overhaul

The Australian Electoral Commission’s Redistribution Committee for NSW today published details of its proposal for changes to federal electoral boundaries in NSW, with Mr Fitzgibbon’s rural Hunter electorate abolished.

Mr Fitzgibbon is now likely to face a challenge to retain his seat at the next federal poll against Labor MP Pat Conroy who has had his Charlton seat re-named Hunter, in the AEC proposal.

The redistribution follows a decrease in the NSW entitlement from 48 to 47 seats in the House of Representatives, as determined by the Electoral Commissioner last November.

WA had its number of seats increased by one in the latest redistribution.

In a statement, Redistribution Committee chair and Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers said the current and projected enrolment numbers had led the Committee to propose significant adjustment to federal electoral boundaries in NSW.

“After careful consideration, the Redistribution Committee unanimously proposes the abolition of the existing Division of Hunter,” he said.

“The Division of Hunter was created at Federation in 1901 and the retention of Federation names is part of published guidelines for the naming of federal electoral divisions.

“Accordingly, the Committee proposes retaining the name of ‘Hunter’ by withdrawing the name of ‘Charlton’ and renaming that Division as ‘Hunter’.”

Under the AEC proposal, just under half of the electors in the existing Division of Hunter would continue to be located within the electoral boundaries of the newly proposed Division of Hunter.

Electors in the northern part of the existing Division of Hunter are proposed to join Mr Joyce’s adjacent New England division.

The remainder – about 40 per cent in the current Division of Hunter - are proposed to become part of the northern coastal division of Division of Paterson, currently held by Liberal MP Bob Baldwin.

Nearly 60pc of the electors in the current Division of Charlton would belong to the renamed Division of Hunter.

The remaining electors are proposed to be part of the Divisions of Newcastle and Shortland.

Mr Rogers said the Redistribution Committee also proposed renaming the existing Division of Throsby as ‘Whitlam’ in honour of the late Prime Minister Gough Whitlam.

A total of 944,592 electors or 19.42pc of electors in NSW would change from their current federal electoral division under the proposed redistribution.

Once a redistribution is final, the AEC automatically transfers existing elector enrolments, where required, to the correct electoral division.

“The consultative nature of the redistribution process continues, with individuals and organisations now able to lodge objections to the Redistribution Committee’s proposed electoral names and boundaries,” Mr Rogers said.

Written objections to the AEC proposals are due by Friday, November 13 and will then be available for public inspection from Monday, November 16.

Comments on the objections will then be accepted until 6pm AEDT Friday, November 27.

NSW Nationals MP Mark Coulton said he was still digesting the AEC’s proposal and would be making public comment once he understood the exact details and any impacts on his Parkes electorate, in central-northern NSW.

Mr Fitzgibbon and Mr Joyce were also contacted by Fairfax Media for comment and are expected to make statements today after considering the proposal’s details.

The AEC proposal also appears to have significantly dented the rural and agricultural heartland demographic of Hume Liberal MP Angus Taylor who is a leading voice of farming issues in the current government.

Hume currently borders the ACT but has moved more towards Southern-Sydney, under the proposed changes while losing key regional communities like Young, Cootamundra, Yass and Harden, which have moved into the large farming Riverina seat in southern NSW, held by National party senior MP Michael McCormack.

“It’s ridiculous, completely ridiculous,” one MP said who asked not to be named.

Mr McCormack and Mr Baldwin and other rural MP’s impacted by the changes were also contacted for comment and are likely to make statements later today