ACT Labor and the Canberra Liberals are split over proposed new electoral boundaries and whether Gungahlin and Belconnen should be together as a new third federal seat is created.
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The Australian Electoral Commission released the first round of submissions for the territory-wide redistribution on Monday, with proposed names for the new seat including Stromlo, Molonglo, Namadgi, Griffin and Shakespeare.
Among 16 proposals from members of the public and the major political parties, Labor said the existing seats of Fenner and Canberra should be retained and a new central electorate of Molonglo be created, taking in the inner north and inner south, plus the southern belt of Belconnen suburbs and the northern-most suburbs of the Woden Valley.
Labor proposes the seat be named for the Molonglo River corridor and wants Canberra's Indigenous leaders to be consulted before the seat is determined.
The Canberra Liberals propose the electorate of Canberra incorporate the Tuggeranong and Woden town centres and the inner south, but excludes Weston Creek, the Molonglo Valley and Kingston.
Under that plan a new electorate of Stromlo would be created, taking in Weston Creek and the Molonglo Valley and the north-west side of the territory in Belconnen.
The existing electorate of Fenner would lose Belconnen, split down Gungahlin Drive and the Barton Highway.
Seeking to maximise their electoral chances across the territory, Labor recommended against the so-called "y shape" electoral map while the Liberals would split Kingston away from the inner south and move it into the northern electorate.
Both plans would place Norfolk Island within the seat of Canberra and Jervis Bay as part of Fenner.
"ACT Labor has a clear position that, as far as reasonably possible, the new divisions should encompass complete suburban boundaries," Labor secretary Matthew Byrne said.
"We do not believe that creating divisions that split suburbs across multiple electorates is in the best interest of representative democracy."
The Liberal plan says Stromlo has a strong connection to the city's development, including European settlement, astronomical research, the Stromlo Forest Park and the 2003 bushfires.
"Stromlo has played an important role in Canberra's history, it represents the resilience of Canberrans to respond in times of great adversity, while also providing a connection to our world class research facilities and the beauty of our surrounding environment," the submission says.
Members of the public proposed the new seat be named to honour Canberra's original designers Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahoney Griffin, or to honour Duntroon Station owner Robert Campbell.
One person proposed it be named after the ACT's first federal member of Parliament, Lewis Windermere Nott.
Other proposals include naming the seat after Canberra Times founder Arthur Shakespeare, historian and editorial board chair of the Canberra-based Australian Dictionary of Biography Keith Hancock or former Parliamentary librarian Michael Thwaites and his wife Honor Thwaites.
The public can comment on the initial suggestions until December 8, before a proposed redistribution report is released in April next year.
New electoral boundaries will be formally determined by July 2018.
Labor party members have begun considering preselection, while the Greens have pledged to strongly contest the new seat.
The Electoral Commission's timetable for the next federal poll stretches from August 4, 2018 to May 18, 2019.
