9 December 1999

Federal Electoral Redistributions to Begin

A redistribution of electoral boundaries is to be carried out in the Northern Territory and Western Australia following the determination of the number of representatives for each State and the Territories in the House of Representatives.

The Electoral Commissioner, Mr Bill Gray, today made the determination based on the latest population figures for the Commonwealth provided by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

"A redistribution is a redrawing of electoral boundaries to ensure that as nearly as practicable, each State and Territory gains representation in the House of Representatives in proportion to the State and Territory's population, and that there are the same number of electors in each division for a given State or Territory," Mr Gray said.

"The figures show that the population for both the Northern Territory and Western Australia has increased sufficiently to result in the Northern Territory and Western Australia each gaining a seat. The Northern Territory will increase from 1 to 2 seats in the House of Representatives and Western Australia will increase from 14 to 15 seats. Overall there will be 150 seats in the House of Representatives."

Mr Gray said that the Electoral Commission will soon commence the redistribution process. Redistribution Committees will be appointed and the public will be invited to make suggestions and comments on matters affecting the drawing of federal electoral boundaries and the naming of divisions in the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

Further information:

See background brief or contact

Brien Hallett,
Director Information
Ph: (02) 6271 4415

Federal Redistribution Secretariat
Wayne Seymour
Ph: (02) 6271 4688