Australian Electoral Commission decides SA to lose a Federal seat — but which MP will go?
THE number of South Australian seats in the federal House of Representatives will fall to the lowest level since 1954 at the next election — but who will go?
THE number of South Australian seats in the federal House of Representatives will fall to the lowest level since 1954 at the next election as slow population and economic growth threatens the state’s national influence.
SA federal seats will be cut from 11 to 10 and Victoria and the ACT will each gain an additional electorate.
The redistribution could spell bad news for the Turnbull Government, which has only a one-seat majority in Parliament.
Labor-leaning areas might be incorporated into Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne’s seat of Sturt, the ACT is a Labor stronghold and the new Victorian seat is tipped to be in an area where the ALP is performing strongly.
The Australian Electoral Commission will take several months to determine the new electoral boundaries in SA and will consider submissions from political parties and the general public.
The Nick Xenophon Team is concerned that the major parties will combine to advise the commission to abolish NXT MP Rebekha Sharkie’s electorate of Mayo. The Electoral Commission determined that SA’s population of 1.7 million people entitled the state to 10 MPs in the House of Representatives.
The overall size of the House will increase from 150 to 151 seats.
The looming loss of an SA seat sparked a clash between Premier Jay Weatherill and Liberal MPs over the state Government’s economic and population policies.
“I’m certainly not going to be chasing population growth just to get seats in parliament,’’ Mr Weatherill said.
Deputy state Liberal Leader Vickie Chapman said Labor was “euthanasing” the state’s economy. The Government has previously committed to working toward the state having a population of two million people by 2027.
Mr Pyne said the Weatherill Government had failed to create the jobs needed to keep and attract workers to the state.
This week he said the likely loss of an SA seat reflected, “a deep decline, a malaise in this state from a population point of view”.
“It’s very disappointing. When I was first elected in 1993, South Australia had the same number of seats as Western Australia, we both had 13 seats,” he said.
“Western Australia now has 16 and we will have 10.
“We are in decline as a state, we are going backwards in terms of population share and the state Labor government seems to be entirely complacent about that.”
The Electoral Commission has several options for dividing the state into 10 electorates.
It could abolish retiring MP Kate Ellis’ seat of Adelaide and rename another electorate Adelaide.
Another scenario would see Labor MP Tony Zappia’s seat of Makin abolished and parts of it moved into Sturt.
Ms Sharkie has vowed to fight to save her seat of Mayo, which stretches from the Adelaide Hills to the Fleurieu Peninsula and Kangaroo Island.
“For me, the greatest concern is a diminishing presence for that state on the national stage – irrespective of which seat is abolished,’’ Ms Sharkie said.
The Electoral Commission will seek public submissions on the new electoral boundaries and then draft maps for further consultation before making a final decision.
If an election was called before the distribution was finished, the rural seats of Grey and Barker would be combined.
page 24: editorial