Big Changes In Overdue Victorian Electoral Redistribution
May 30, 2001
The redistribution of electoral boundaries for the Victorian Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council has been released for public comment. The redistribution abolishes 20 electorates, including that of the Opposition Leader, Dr. Denis Napthine.
Napthine's seat of Portland and the neighbouring seats of Polwarth and Warrnambool have been abolished and replaced with two new seats. This reflects the over-representation of some rural areas in the Assembly.
In metropolitan Melbourne, the electorates of Knox, Springvale, Mooroolbark, Berwick, Coburg and Frankston East have been abolished.
The National Party has also lost the rural seat of Wimmera, held by Hugh Delahunty, brother of Education Minister Mary Delahunty.
The redistribution does not alter the present size of the Parliament. The Assembly retains 88 electorates and the Council retains 44. A Legislative Council Province comprises 4 Assembly districts. Members of the Assembly serve 4-year terms, whilst members of the Council serve 8-year terms, half facing election with each lower house poll.
No electorate is untouched by the redistribution. Some have name changes, such as Gisborne's change to Macedon.
The last redistribution was carried out in 1990-91 under the previous Labor government. To the discredit of the Kennett Liberal government, no redistribution was carried out over the next 7 years.
Federal redistributions are carried out at least once every 7 years, or whenever more than a third of the electoral divisions in any State deviates from the average divisional enrolment by over 10% in three consecutive months.
According to the Victorian Electoral Commission, many electorates in Victoria have vastly differing enrolments.
For example, the Labor-held seat of Dandenong has 48,163 voters, 34.05% above the average. The Labor-held seat of Albert Park, held by Deputy Premier John Thwaites, has 41,372 voters, 15.15% above the average. The Liberal-held electorate of Cranbourne has 41,995 voters, 16.88% above the average.
In contrast, the seat that delivered government to Steve Bracks, Frankston East, held by Matt Viney, has 28,292 votes, 21.26% below the average. The Liberal-held seat of Glen Waverley has 32,019 voters, 10.88% below the average.
This malapportionment of the electoral boundaries has seriously eroded the principle of one-vote-one-value in Victoria.
The Electoral Boundaries Commission has conducted public hearings since late last year and received submissions from interested organisations, particularly the main political parties.
The Electoral Boundaries Commission consists of the Chief Judge of the County Court or the Chief Judge's appointed nominee, who is the chairman;
the Electoral Commissioner; and the Surveyor-General.
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