Australian Electoral Commission
23 October 2009
The augmented Electoral Commission for New South Wales today announced the outcome of the deliberations on the boundaries and names of the 48 federal electoral divisions in New South Wales, in accordance with a requirement of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918.
The presiding member of the augmented Electoral Commission for New South Wales, the Hon. Peter Heerey QC, said that it had adopted the proposal of the Redistribution Committee for New South Wales, published on 7 August 2009, with some changes.
The augmented Electoral Commission considers that its proposal is not significantly different from that proposed by the Redistribution Committee. Therefore, a further objection period and further hearing are not required.
The formal determination of the boundaries and names of the electoral divisions will be gazetted on 22 December 2009.
Final maps and a report setting out the augmented Electoral Commission's reasons will be tabled in the Federal Parliament after the formal determination is made, and will then be publicly released.
Further information about the redistribution, and a copy of the August 2009 report of the Redistribution Committee is available on the New South Wales redistribution page.
The augmented Electoral Commission's proposed redistribution is broadly explained below.
The presiding member of the augmented Electoral Commission for New South Wales, the Hon. Peter Heerey QC, announced that it had adopted the proposal of the Redistribution Committee for New South Wales, published on 7 August 2009, with some changes, following the augmented Electoral Commission's consideration of all objections and comments on objections made in respect of the Redistribution Committee's proposal and the holding of a public inquiry involving the hearing of submissions at Mittagong and Sydney. There were 280 objections received in relation to the Redistribution Committee's proposal and 35 comments on objections.
The Redistribution Committee's proposal, as changed, stands as the proposed redistribution of New South Wales made by the augmented Electoral Commission for New South Wales.
The substance of the findings or conclusions of the augmented Electoral Commission concerning the objections and the Redistribution Committee's proposal are as follows.
A central consideration for the Redistribution Committee was the identification of the division to be abolished to reduce the number of electoral divisions in New South Wales from 49 to 48, as required by a determination under s.48(1) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (the Electoral Act). In seeking to address this issue, the Redistribution Committee noted that there were 12 existing divisions across the State that required additional electors to satisfy the numerical requirements of the Electoral Act and only one existing division, Reid, that needed to lose electors to meet these numerical requirements. The Redistribution Committee noted that enrolment was projected to be concentrated within the metropolitan area and some coastal areas and that low levels of growth were projected in rural areas. Given the highly variable projected enrolment growth across the State, the Redistribution Committee therefore adopted a strategy of supplementing areas that required electors from areas with relatively high projected enrolment. As a consequence of this approach, the Division of Reid was abolished.
Seventy-seven objections related to this proposal and to the Redistribution Committee's consequential proposals as to the absorption of the abolished division within adjacent divisions, and to the loss of the name Reid. At the public inquiry in Sydney the augmented Electoral Commission heard a number of appeals for the retention of both the division and name of Reid. The augmented Electoral Commission gave careful consideration to the objections regarding the abolition of the Division of Reid, but found it was unable to accede to them because of the overriding statutory requirement to meet the criterion relating to projected enrolment numbers and the consequential impacts on the remaining 48 divisions. The augmented Electoral Commission accepted the Redistribution Committee's proposal in this regard, noting that, in its opinion, alternative options would have caused significant flow-on effects for other divisions across the State.
In regard to the loss of the name Reid, the augmented Electoral Commission has agreed to vary the Redistribution Committee's proposal by renaming the proposed Division of McMahon as Reid. In doing so, the augmented Electoral Commission acknowledged the significant number of electors from the abolished Division of Reid contained within the proposed Division of McMahon and also recognised the connection of Prime Minister Sir George Reid to the area.
Further, the augmented Electoral Commission, having regard to the Guidelines on Naming Divisions, has concluded that the proposed Division of Prospect (named after Prospect Reservoir) be renamed as McMahon, in honour of the former Prime Minister, Sir William McMahon.
The augmented Electoral Commission, after consideration of all matters brought before it, acceded to a number of objections to better reflect community of interest and travel and communication issues. The effects of these decisions are:
The augmented Electoral Commission concluded that a number of objections failed to meet the criterion relating to projected enrolment numbers. In cases where compensatory adjustments to the enrolment numbers could have been made elsewhere, the augmented Electoral Commission concluded that other criteria in s.66 of the Electoral Act were more appropriately met by the Redistribution Committee's proposal.
This was the case in respect of the 98 objections and 5 comments on objections seeking to include the Southern Highlands in the Division of Throsby. Although a number of compelling community of interest and transport and communication arguments were made in support of such a change, the augmented Electoral Commission considered that these did not outweigh the rationale provided by the Redistribution Committee.
It was also the case in respect of the following objections seeking to:
The augmented Electoral Commission, while acknowledging the merits of these objections, was unable to accede to them because of the overriding requirement that the projected numbers for each division in the State fall within the statutory limits. Any alternative adjustments would, in the augmented Electoral Commission's opinion, have caused significant flow-on effects for other divisions across the State under the criteria set by the Electoral Act.
The proposal of the augmented Electoral Commission is in terms of the proposal previously published by the Redistribution Committee, subject to the changes referred to above, and further minor boundary adjustments aimed at producing better defined boundaries. These adjustments are:
As will be stated as part of the reasons for its determination, in the opinion of the augmented Electoral Commission, its proposal is not significantly different from the Redistribution Committee proposal within the meaning of s.72(12)(c) of the Electoral Act. Therefore, upon the publication in the Gazette of the determination of the augmented Electoral Commission for New South Wales under s.73 of the Electoral 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.
The new divisional boundaries will come into effect at the next federal election following the 22 December 2009 gazettal, and any by-election that may occur before the next federal election would be held on the boundaries as determined at the previous redistribution.
Background information
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Chairperson of the Australian Electoral Commission | Hon. P Heerey QC |
| Electoral Commissioner | Mr Ed Killesteyn |
| Non-judicial Commissioner (and Australian Statistician) | Mr Brian Pink |
| Acting Australian Electoral Officer for NSW | Mr Tjoen San Lauw |
| Surveyor General for NSW | Mr Warwick Watkins |
| Auditor-General for NSW | Mr Peter Achterstraat |
Mr Tjoen San Lauw
State Manager, AEC, NSW
02 9375 6300
0423 847 984
Phil Diak
Director, Media and Public Awareness
Australian Electoral Commission
02 6271 4415
0413 452 539
