Objections to the ACT Redistribution Committee’s proposed redistribution of the ACT Legislative Assembly’s electoral boundaries are now available for public viewing, the ACT Electoral Commissioner Mr Phillip Green said today.

The ACT Legislative Assembly’s electoral boundaries are being redrawn in preparation for the 15 October 2016 election. For the first time, the ACT is being divided into 5 electorates each returning 5 Members to the Legislative Assembly.

The Redistribution Committee published a proposed redistribution of the ACT into 5 electorates on 31 March 2015 and invited objections to the proposal by 28 April 2015.

Nine objections to the proposal are available for public inspection at the ACT Electoral Commission website and at the office of the Commission.

“The objections will now be considered by the Augmented Electoral Commission at a meeting to be held on 5 May 2015,” Mr Green said.

“The Augmented Electoral Commission has the power to either propose a new set of electorate boundaries and/or names, or to uphold the boundaries and electorate names proposed by the Redistribution Committee. Before it makes a decision, the Augmented Electoral Commission may also decide to hold a public hearing into the objections,” Mr Green said.

The Redistribution Committee consisted of the Electoral Commissioner, Mr Phillip Green; the ACT Planning and Land Authority, Ms Dorte Ekelund; the ACT Surveyor-General, Mr Jeffrey Brown; and the ACT Regional Director, ACT Regional Office, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Ms Cassandra Gligora.

These committee members will now be joined by the Chairperson of the ACT Electoral Commission, Mr Roger Beale AO, and the other member of the Commission, Ms Dawn Casey, to form the Augmented ACT Electoral Commission.