The redistribution of the ACT Legislative Assembly's electoral boundaries will officially commence tomorrow with a call for public submissions.

The ACT Legislative Assembly's electoral boundaries are to be re-drawn in preparation for the October 2001 ACT election. Unlike the 1996 redistribution, which saw no change to the original boundaries drawn in 1993, the boundaries appear set to change this year. Population shifts indicate that at least 2 of the ACT's Legislative Assembly electorates will need to be changed to ensure all 3 electorates are within the permitted 5% variation from the enrolment quota in October 2001.

The Belconnen-based 5-member electorate of Ginninderra is currently more than 6.1% below the enrolment quota and is expected to be around 7.0% below the quota in October 2001 if the boundaries are not changed. The 7-member electorate of Molonglo is expected to be 5.6% above the quota in October 2001 on current boundaries.

The ACT Redistribution Committee is publishing a notice in the ACT Gazette tomorrow outlining the redistribution process and inviting suggestions for boundaries and names for the ACT's electorates. A copy of the notice will also appear in the Canberra Times, The Chronicle and The Valley View, the acting ACT Electoral Commissioner, Mr Phillip Green, said today.

Any interested persons or organisations have until Wednesday 15 March to make suggestions to the Redistribution Committee. Those suggestions will then be made available for public comment until Wednesday 29 March.

After considering the public submissions the Redistribution Committee will publish a proposed redistribution of the ACT into three electorates. People will then have 28 days in which to object to the proposed boundaries.

The Redistribution Committee consists of the Electoral Commissioner, Phillip Green; the ACT Planning Authority, Lincoln Hawkins; the Chief Surveyor, Rod Menzies; and the Regional Director, ACT Office, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Dalma Jacobs.

One key requirement for the redistribution will be ensuring that electoral enrolments in the three electorates will be within a strict numerical range at the time of the next election. The ACT Electoral Commission is making electoral enrolment statistics available to the public for making submissions. The statistics and other more detailed information are available from the Electoral Commission's office at 50 Allara St, Civic, or from its website at www.elections.act.gov.au