28 November 2008

Deliberations on the names and boundaries for the five federal electoral divisions for Tasmania have concluded.

The Hon James Burchett QC, presiding member of the augmented Electoral Commission, today announced on its behalf, in accordance with a requirement of s.72 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (the Act), that it had made a proposed redistribution of Tasmania, adopting the redistribution proposed by the Redistribution Committee for Tasmania which was published on 22 August 2008, with some changes.

The augmented Commission considered all objections and comments on those objections made in respect of the Committee’s proposal, and held a public inquiry involving the hearing of submissions in Hobart and Devonport. There were 49 objections received in relation to the Committee’s proposal and 9 comments on objections.

The proposal, as changed, stands as the proposed redistribution of Tasmania of the augmented Electoral Commission which it will determine as the redistribution of Tasmania by notice to be published in the Gazette. 

“The augmented Commission is of the opinion that its proposal is not significantly different from that proposed by the Redistribution Committee for Tasmania.  Therefore, upon publication in the Gazette of the determination of the augmented Electoral Commission for Tasmania under s.73 of the Act, and the issue of the reasons for that determination, the redistribution process will have been concluded without the need to call for further objections or hearings,” Mr Burchett said.

Final maps and a report setting out the Commission’s reasons will be prepared for tabling in the Parliament and then published. The formal determination of the names and boundaries of the electoral divisions will be gazetted on 16 February 2009.

The substance of the findings and conclusions of the augmented Commission concerning the objections lodged under s.69 and concerning the Redistribution Committee proposal is:

• The name of the Division of Denison shall remain unchanged. 
  In the present circumstances, the augmented Commission considers it is important not to disturb a familiar and long accepted divisional name, given there is an absence of the kind of trigger contemplated by the Guidelines for the Naming of Electoral Divisions.

• The augmented Commission agreed with the Committee’s finding that the West Coast LGA shares a strong community of interests with its neighbouring councils to the north. But the augmented Commission was also persuaded that the Latrobe LGA similarly shares a strong community of interest with its neighbouring councils to the west. However, numerical constraints imposed by the Electoral Act made it impossible for both the West Coast and the Latrobe LGAs to be wholly accommodated within the Division of Braddon. The augmented Commission accepted the arguments put forward in submissions that the Kentish LGA does share a stronger community of interest with the Division of Lyons than does Latrobe, so as to provide a ground for retaining it in the Division of Lyons, rather than affirming the transfer of the whole of Latrobe to the Division of Lyons. 
  
  The augmented Commission also concluded that a strong community of interest exists between Braddon and the more urbanised parts of the Latrobe LGA.
  
  Taking into account all the material before it, and in all the circumstances, the augmented Commission concluded that the West Coast LGA should, as the Committee proposed, be transferred to Braddon; the Kentish LGA should be retained in Lyons; and the western part of the Latrobe LGA, including the township of Latrobe, should be retained in Braddon, but the more rural eastern part of the Latrobe LGA should be transferred to Lyons. 
  

• The augmented Commission was persuaded by arguments that the Richmond township shares a strong community of interest with the remainder of the Clarence LGA, and that the townships of Bridgewater and Gagebrook also share a strong community of interest. The logic of these conclusions was not displaced, in the augmented Commission’s opinion, by countervailing considerations.
  
  The augmented Commission therefore decided to transfer the township of Gagebrook into the Division of Lyons, thereby joining it with the neighbouring township of Bridgewater, and at the same time to unite the whole of the Clarence LGA in the Division of Franklin by aligning the northern boundary of Franklin with the Clarence LGA boundary at Richmond.
  
  
• The remaining objections and submissions were concerned with minor boundary changes, involving small numbers of electors.  The augmented Commission decided to adopt the boundaries proposed by the Committee in each case.

• Subject to the foregoing, the augmented Electoral Commission concluded that the Committee’s proposal should be adopted.

Further information about the redistribution process, including copies of public submissions and the report of the Redistribution Committee, is available on the AEC website. 

Contact:
Marie Neilson
State Manager
AEC Tasmania
Ph: 03 6235 0501

Phil Diak
Director, Media
Australian Electoral Commission
02 6271 4415 (bus hours)
0413 452 539 (after hours)