Scott Morrison’s fight gets harder as seat goes west in boundary redraw

The electoral commission has abolished a Liberal-held seat, while Labor is set to gain one, putting the government on a minority footing.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Scott Morrison will fight the next election on a minority government footing after losing a ­Coalition-held seat in Perth’s north and Labor gaining a newly created electorate west of Melbourne to be named after former ALP prime minister Bob Hawke.

The proposed redistribution unveiled on Friday by the Australian Electoral Commission also threatens the Liberal hold over the ultra-marginal seat of Chisholm, in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, and gives the Greens a greater chance of winning the inner-south seat of Macnamara.

The southwest Victorian seat of Corangamite will also be renamed after legendary Aboriginal activist Margaret Tucker, making it the first federal parliament seat to be named after an Indigenous Australian woman.

First-term MP and army veteran Vince Connelly’s seat of Stirling is set to be axed and divided between two Liberal seats, Curtin and Moore, and two Labor seats, Cowan and Perth.

AEC commissioner Tom Rogers said the “significant” redistribution was needed after Western Australia’s share of the national population dropped.

“Under the proposal some significant changes would occur, with the boundaries of WA divisions being amended to accommodate the decrease,” Mr Rogers said.

The Prime Minister will now head into the next federal election, which could be held as early as September or as late as May next year, with 75 MPs to Anthony ­Albanese’s 69.

All parties have until April 16 to appeal against the AEC’s proposals on the redistribution of seats.

The likely loss of Mr Connelly’s seat will be a blow to the Liberals’ western division as it struggles with its historic defeat at the state election last Saturday and the prospect of fighting the next federal poll with an ageing group of MPs. Mr Connelly, 42, was considered a rising star before the proposed abolition of his seat.

Some Labor sources suggested he could be a contender against Labor MP Anne Aly in Cowan, whose electorate was substantially redrawn to take in parts of Stirling.

“My electorate remains my sole focus. I will continue to work hard to provide strong representation and leadership for the people of Stirling and ensure their voice is heard in our Federal Parliament,” Mr Connelly said on Friday.

Cowan was already Labor’s third-most marginal seat, won by 0.83 per cent in 2019.

Liberal member for Stirling Vince Connelly. Picture: AAP

Dr Aly — the first Muslim woman to sit in parliament and a counter-extremism expert — said on Friday she would recontest the next election, despite rumours she was considering leaving politics.

“I don’t take anything for granted — not the new bits of my seat after the election and the old bits that I currently represent in parliament,” Dr Aly said.

The AEC decision was a ­reprieve for Indigenous Australians Minister Ken Wyatt and ­Attorney-General Christian Porter, whose seats were both under threat of abolition.

Liberal sources had told The Australian the AEC’s ­decision on Pearce would likely ­influence Mr Porter’s decision on whether to run at the next federal election.

The new seat of Hawke in Melbourne’s west will take in suburbs such as Sunbury and Bacchus Marsh, currently in opposition transport spokeswoman Catherine King’s seat of Ballarat.

The renamed Labor-held seat of Tucker will lose parts of the Surf Coast while Chisholm — the Coalition’s second-most marginal seat at 0.57 per cent and held by Gladys Liu — is also considered a potential pick-up for Labor in the proposed redrawn boundaries. But some Liberals are optimistic the first-term MP can hold on.

Labor and Liberal MPs said the ALP-held inner-south Melbourne seat of Macnamara would be more vulnerable to a Greens takeover.