The ACT Redistribution Committee has announced its proposed redistribution of the ACT into 5 electorates, the ACT Electoral Commissioner, Damian Cantwell, said today.

The ACT Legislative Assembly’s electoral boundaries are being redrawn in preparation for the 17 October 2020 election.

“The Committee has not proposed any change to the names of the electorates proposing that the ACT continue to be divided into electorates named Brindabella, Ginninderra, Kurrajong, Murrumbidgee and Yerrabi,” Mr Cantwell said.

The Redistribution Committee has proposed that the five electorates for the ACT Legislative Assembly be as follows:

Brindabella, a five-Member electorate comprising the district of Tuggeranong (excluding the section of the Tuggeranong suburb of Kambah that is East of Drakeford Drive, and that portion of Tuggeranong District between Drakeford Drive and Athllon Drive) and the districts of Booth, Cotter River, Paddy’s River, Rendezvous Creek, Tennent and Mount Clear;

Ginninderra, a five-Member electorate comprising the district of Belconnen (excluding the suburbs of Giralang and Kaleen);

Kurrajong, a five-Member electorate comprising the district of Canberra Central (excluding the suburbs of Deakin and Yarralumla), and the districts of Jerrabomberra (including the entire suburb of Hume), Kowen and Majura;

Murrumbidgee, a five-Member electorate comprising the districts of Molonglo Valley, Weston Creek, Woden Valley, Coree (including the village of Uriarra) and Stromlo, the section of the Tuggeranong suburb of Kambah that is East of Drakeford Drive, and that  portion of Tuggeranong District between Drakeford Drive and Athllon Drive, and the Canberra Central suburbs of Deakin and Yarralumla; and

Yerrabi, a five-Member electorate comprising the districts of Gungahlin and Hall and the Belconnen District suburbs of Giralang and Kaleen.

“One key requirement for an ACT redistribution is ensuring that electoral enrolment in each electorate will be within +/- 5% of the quota at the time of the next election.  This requirement is aimed at ensuring ‘one vote, one value’,” Mr Cantwell said.  “The quota is 1/5 of the ACT total enrolment.  Each of the proposed electorates meets this requirement,” Mr Cantwell said.

A notice inviting objections to the proposed boundaries has been published in the Canberra Times on Tuesday, 7 May 2019.  A detailed report on the proposal is available on the Elections ACT website and from the office of the ACT Electoral Commission.

“The report of the Redistribution Committee includes a map of the proposed boundaries, a statement of reasons for the proposed names and boundaries of the five electorates, and detailed statistics,” Mr Cantwell said.

Members of the public are invited to make written objections to the proposal to the Augmented ACT Electoral Commission.  Objections should be lodged with the Augmented Electoral Commission by Monday 3 June 2019.

The Redistribution Committee consists of the Electoral Commissioner, Damian Cantwell; the ACT Planning and Land Authority, Ben Ponton; the ACT Surveyor-General, Jeff Brown; and the Director of Demography, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Beidar Cho.

Objections to the Redistribution Committee’s proposal will be considered by the Augmented Electoral Commission, which consists of the four members of the Redistribution Committee and the other two members of the ACT Electoral Commission, the Chairperson, Ms Dawn Casey, and the other member, Mr Philip Moss.

The Augmented Electoral Commission has the power to affirm the Redistribution Committee’s proposal or to make its own proposed redistribution and invite further public objections.  After the public objection period, the Augmented Electoral Commission will make the final decision on the names and boundaries of the electorates to be used at the 2020 ACT election.