Federal electoral redistribution to take place in Northern Territory
A redistribution of federal electoral boundaries in the Northern Territory has begun.
The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 provides that a redistribution of federal electoral boundaries occurs when seven years has elapsed since the last redistribution. The last redistribution of boundaries in the Northern Territory was in December 2000.
"A redistribution is a redrawing of electoral boundaries to ensure each state and territory has representation in the House of Representatives in proportion to their populations, and that there are a similar number of electors in each federal division for a given state or territory," Electoral Commissioner, Ian Campbell said.
Mr Campbell said that the Northern Territory’s entitlement to seats in the House of Representatives would remain at two.
An initial step in the redistribution process was the calculation of the enrolment quota for the Northern Territory. The quota of 59,680 was determined by dividing the number of electors enrolled in the Territory as at 16 January 2008 by the number of members of the House of Representatives to which the Territory is entitled.
A redistribution committee will be appointed and the public will be invited to make suggestions and comments on matters affecting the drawing of the electoral boundaries.
Redistribution processes usually take a number of months, and the new boundaries for the Northern Territory are not expected to be finalised until late 2008.
This federal redistribution should not be confused with the redistribution of electoral boundaries for the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly electoral divisions which is currently being undertaken by the Northern Territory Electoral Commission.
More information on electoral boundary redistributions is available online at www.aec.gov.au/FAQs/Redistributions.htm. The enrolment figures used to determine the quota are also available on the AEC website.
Contact:
Phil Diak
Director, Media
Australian Electoral Commission
02 6271 4415 (bus hours)
0413 452 539 (after hours)
