18 February 2009

A redistribution of federal electoral boundaries is required in Queensland and New South Wales. This follows a determination under the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 of the number of federal members of the House of Representatives that each State and Territory will be entitled to at the next federal election.

The Electoral Commissioner, Mr Ed Killesteyn, has determined the number of members of the House of Representatives to which each State and Territory is entitled. He has based his determination on the most recent official population figures for the Commonwealth published and provided to him by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

"The figures show the population for Queensland has increased sufficiently to result in that State increasing its entitlement from 29 to 30 seats,” he said.

“At the same time, the entitlement for New South Wales will reduce from 49 to 48 seats.

“There will be a total of 150 seats contested at the next federal election for the House of Representatives.”

A redistribution is a redrawing of electoral boundaries to ensure as near as practicable, each State and Territory gains representation in the House of Representatives in proportion to their populations, and there are a similar number of electors in each division for a given State or Territory.

Mr Killesteyn said the Electoral Commission would soon direct the commencement of the redistribution process in Queensland and New South Wales. 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.

Redistribution processes usually take a number of months, and new boundaries for Queensland and New South Wales are not expected to be finalised until late 2009.

Further information:

The information paper below provides further information.

 

Media enquiries:

Phil Diak
Director Media
Australian Electoral Commission
02 6271 4415
0413 452 539

 

Why is a redistribution undertaken?

Under the Commonwealth Electoral Act (the Electoral Act), the Electoral Commissioner is required to use the latest official published statistics of the Commonwealth to ascertain the Australian population on the day after the anniversary of the first meeting of the elected House of Representatives of the current Parliament. This date is 12 February 2009.

The Electoral Commissioner is then required to make a determination of each State and Territory’s entitlement to representation in the House of Representatives.

State and Territory entitlements are calculated by dividing the total population figure for the Commonwealth, excluding Territory populations, by twice the number of Senators for the States to obtain a quota. The population of each State and Territory is then divided by the quota, and the result rounded to the nearest whole number to determine the entitlement. The calculation is as follows:

1. Australian Population

Number of the people of the Commonwealth and of the several States and Territories were ascertained to be as follows:

State/Territory1	Number of the people2
The States
New South Wales	6,967,271
Victoria	5,297,567
Queensland	4,279,450
Western Australia	2,163,251
South Australia	1,601,827
Tasmania	498,163
The Territories
Australian Capital Territory3	344,744
Northern Territory	219,950
Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands	598
Territory of Christmas Island	1,424
Australian Antarctic Territory	54
Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands	0
Coral Sea Islands Territory	4
Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands	0
The Commonwealth4	20,807,529

Notes on Australian Population table

1. Under section 38A of the Electoral Act, the Territory of Norfolk Island is not taken to be a Territory for the purposes of this ascertainment.
   However, under section 45(2) of the Electoral Act, a Norfolk Island resident who is one of the people of a State for the purposes of sections 7 and 24 of the Constitution is included in the count of the population of the relevant State and of the Commonwealth for the purposes of this ascertainment and, under section 46(2) of the Act, a Norfolk Island resident who is enrolled in a Territory under section 95AA(3) of the Act is also included in the count of the population of the Territory for the purposes of this ascertainment.
2. This ascertainment has been made using the statistics contained in Table 8 of the June Quarter 2008 issue of the Australian Demographic Statistics published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on 2 December 2008.
3. Under section 4 of the Electoral Act, the Jervis Bay Territory is taken to be part of the Australian Capital Territory.
4. Under section 45 of the Electoral Act, the total number of the people of the Commonwealth does not include the numbers of people of the Territories.

2. The Quota

Under section 48(2)(a) of the Electoral Act, the quota is the number of the people of the Commonwealth¹ divided by twice the number of Senators for the States.

Number of people of the Commonwealth	=	20,807,529
Twice the number of Senators for the States	=	144
Quota	=	144,496.7292

Calculation: 20,807,529 / 144 = 144,496.7292

3. The Entitlement Determination

The number of members of the House of Representatives to be chosen in each State and Territory is determined by dividing the number of people in each State and Territory by the quota and rounding the result to the nearest whole number.

State/Territory1	Number of people	Divided by the Quota	Result	Number of Members to be chosen	Change
New South Wales	6,967,271	144,496.7292	48.2175	48	-1
Victoria	5,297,567	144,496.7292	36.6622	37	-
Queensland	4,279,450	144,496.7292	29.6162	30	+1
Western Australia	2,163,251	144,496.7292	14.9709	15	-
South Australia	1,601,827	144,496.7292	11.0856	11	-
Tasmania2	498,163	144,496.7292	3.4476	5	-
Australian Capital Territory3	344,744	144,496.7292	2.3858	2	-
Northern Territory4	221,972	144,496.7292	1.5362	2	-
Australian Antarctic Territory	54	144,496.7292	0	0	-
Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands	0	144,496.7292	0	0	-
Coral Sea Islands Territory	4	144,496.7292	0	0	-
Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands	0	144,496.7292	0	0	-

Notes on Entitlement Determination

1. Under section 38A of the Electoral Act, the Territory of Norfolk Island is not taken to be a Territory for the purposes of this determination. However, under section 45(2) of the Electoral Act, a Norfolk Island resident who is one of the people of a State for the purposes of sections 7 and 24 of the Constitution is included in the count of the population of the relevant State and of the Commonwealth for the purposes of this determination and, under section 46(2) of the Act, a Norfolk Island resident who is enrolled in a Territory under section 95AA(3) of the Electoral Act is also included in the count of the population the Territory for the purposes of this determination.
2. Tasmania is guaranteed a minimum of five members under section 24 of the Constitution.
3. Under section 4 of the Electoral Act, the Jervis Bay Territory is taken to be part of the Australian Capital Territory.
4. Under section 48(2C) of the Electoral Act, the Territories of Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island are taken for the purposes of this determination to be part of the Northern Territory because they lack sufficient population to qualify for representation in their own right.