Are you in the electorate of Clark or Denison? MP erupts over ‘confusing’ Australian Electoral Commission letter

Residents in the newly renamed Clark electorate have been left confused and unsure who their federal MP is after a letter from the Australian Electoral Commission.

Clark, formerly Denison, independent MHR Andrew Wilkie says a letter sent to residents by the AEC has left constituents confused. Picture: MATT THOMPSON

RESIDENTS in the newly renamed Clark electorate have been unsure who their federal MP is after a letter from the Australian Electoral Commission.

Federal independent for Clark — formerly Denison — Andrew Wilkie says he has had many people approach him because they are confused by the AEC’s letter regarding the new electorate.

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The division was renamed from Denison to Clark in recognition of the contribution Andrew Inglis Clark made to Australia’s political and legal systems.

“The AEC’s letter to constituents was bizarrely confusing and the commission’s response to my concerns about the letter was full of bureaucratic gobbledygook and worryingly dismissive,” Mr Wilkie said.

“Countless constituents now think that they’ve been moved into a new electorate on account of boundary changes and that I’m not their MP any more.

“The reality is, of course, that the boundaries are almost entirely unchanged and all that has happened is that Denison has been renamed Clark.”

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Mel Roome, a long-time voter and supporter of Mr Wilkie, said she initially thought she had been moved into a new electorate.

“I was very confused and it was only after much research on the AEC website that I confirmed it was just a name change,” she said

“The letter was poorly worded.”

In the leadup to this year’s federal election, Mr Wilkie has called on the AEC to write again to residents of what is now called Clark, acknowledging that their original letter was confusing.

But an AEC spokesman said it did not consider the letter to be confusing and would not be writing another.

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“In response to the letter sent to more than 40,000 households in the Division of Clark in early December 2018, only two electors have raised the matter with the AEC,” he said. “A very similar letter has been used throughout Australia to inform electors affected by redistributions, and this issue has not arisen.”

The spokesman said as a result of altering the south-western boundary of the Division to the Huon Highway, about 60 electors have been transferred from the Division of Franklin to the Division of Clark.

There is information about the redistribution available at www.aec.gov.au/redistributions.