2011 Redistribution of electoral boundaries commences
A 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-examined in preparation for the 20 October 2012 ACT election.
The ACT Redistribution Committee is publishing an official notice tomorrow inviting suggestions for boundaries and names for the ACT’s electorates. A copy of the notice will appear in the Canberra Times, the ACT Electoral Commissioner, Mr Phillip Green, said today.
Any interested persons or organisations have until 10 March 2011 to make suggestions to the Redistribution Committee. Those suggestions will then be made available for public comment from 11 March 2011 until 24 March 2011.
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 and Land Authority, Neil Savery; the ACT Surveyor-General, Bill Hirst; and the Regional Director, ACT Office, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Stephen Collett.
One key requirement for the redistribution will be ensuring that electoral enrolments in the three electorates will be within +/- 5% of the quota at the time of the next election. (The quota for the two 5 member electorates is 5/17 of the ACT total enrolment, and the quota for the 7 member electorate is 7/17 of the ACT total.)
The following table shows the enrolment totals in each current electorate at the end of January 2011 and estimated enrolment totals at the time of the next election in October 2012. This table shows that the electorate of Molonglo is expected to be around 6.52% over the quota in 2012 and the electorate of Ginninderra is expected to be around 5.6% under the quota in 2012.
| Electorate | Number of members | Enrolment 31 January 2011 | % above or below quota 2011 | Projected enrolment October 2012 | % above or below quota 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brindabella | 5 | 71524 | -1.92% | 72717 | -3.49% |
| Ginninderra | 5 | 69929 | -4.11% | 71098 | -5.63% |
| Molonglo | 7 | 106502 | +4.31% | 112353 | +6.52% |
| Total | 17 | 247955 | 256168 |
When redrawing the electoral boundaries, the Redistribution Committee is also required to take account of the community of interests, including economic, social and regional interests; means of communication and travel; the physical features and area of each proposed electorate; the boundaries of existing electorates; and the boundaries of suburban divisions and sections.
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 Ground floor, North Building, Civic Square, London Cct, Canberra City, or from its website here.
Phillip Green
Electoral Commissioner
