Joyce pushes regional Senate plan

The Nationals are to be asked to adopt a new policy to increase representation of regional Australians in the Senate.

Barnaby Joyce will move a motion at the party’s federal council this weekend to split the states into six regions, with two senators representing each region. Picture: AAP

Barnaby Joyce will ask the Nationals to adopt a new policy to increase representation of regional Australians in the Senate, suggesting there be two “high-profile” senators representing the most populous city of Sydney.

The former Nationals leader will move a motion at the party’s federal council this weekend endorsing his push to split the states into six regions, with two senators representing each region.

The motion reads: “That this federal council of the Nationals move for the change in the allocation of senators from 12 per state to two per six regions within a state. No region can be larger than 30 per cent of the size of a state nor will any urban basin be allocated more than one region.”

The proposal has gained backing from Resources and Northern Australia Minister Matthew Canavan, as well as several Coalition backbenchers.

“Sydney, for instance, would be one region, it gets two senators. They can be really high-profile, powerful people,” Mr Joyce said.

“A senator for Sydney is going to mean something. People say that’s unfair because it has a bigger population (than cities and towns in the rest of NSW), but that’s what the lower house is for.

“If New York can live with two important senators, why does ­Adelaide get 11? It’s an absurdity.”

An analysis by The Weekend Australian revealed just 18 of 76 senators had offices located outside capital cities, with 11 of the 12 senators in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia based in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth respectively.

Section seven of the Constitution states the Senate shall be composed of senators for each state chosen directly by the people, who will vote as one electorate “until the parliament otherwise provides”.

Mr Joyce said he would also produce a submission to the joint standing committee on electoral matters, which is inquiring into the federal election, to pitch his proposal more broadly.

Deputy Prime Minister and Nationals leader Michael McCormack said his party was proud of its parliamentary representation across regional Australia and he always welcomed the opportunity for more Senate representatives living in country areas.

“I look forward to a robust and productive federal council next week in which ideas such as this can be discussed,” he said.

While he was not wedded to senators being made to live in the region they represented, Mr Joyce said it would be hard to be relevant to regional constituents if a parliamentarian lived in a city.

“The choice (of where they live) should be theirs but it’s going to be very hard to get elected if you’ve got issues at hand and you’re not prepared to live there,” he said.

Mr Joyce said he had been speaking to indigenous leaders, including Noel Pearson and Richie Ahmat, in a bid to garner support for his Senate proposal outside federal parliament, suggesting it would bolster the number of indigenous senators. “Senators from the Gulf region (in Queensland and the Northern Territory) … would most likely be indigenous.”

Mr Pearson and Mr Ahmat could not be reached for comment.