There are two weeks remaining for making public submissions to the Expert Reference Group reviewing the size of the ACT Legislative Assembly, the group’s chairperson, ACT Electoral Commissioner Phillip Green said today.

Thirteen submissions have already been received by the Expert Reference Group. These submissions can be viewed on the Elections ACT website.

Seven of the submissions received to date oppose an increase in the size of the Assembly while six of the submissions support an increase in Assembly size.

A discussion paper aimed at stimulating discussion on the size of the Assembly has been released by the Expert Reference Group.

Public submissions to the inquiry will close on Friday 1 March 2013.

The Expert Reference Group was appointed by ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher on 13 December 2012.

The Chief Minister has asked the Expert Reference Group to:

• examine past reviews into the size of the Assembly;
• consider factors relevant to increasing the size of the Assembly;
• consider any limitations placed on changes to the size of the Assembly by the Proportional Representation (Hare-Clark) Entrenchment Act; and
• recommend options for increasing the size of the Assembly, including the number of electorates and the number of members for each electorate.

“Public input into this review is very important,” Mr Green said.

“These public submissions will be used to inform the recommendations of the reference group. The Expert Reference Group is to report back to the Chief Minister by 31 March 2013,” Mr Green said.

The Expert Reference Group consists of Mr Green, Ms Anne Cahill Lambert, Professor Meredith Edwards, Mr John Hindmarsh and Ms Louise Taylor.