ACT's new federal electorates revealed

The Australian Electoral Commission decided last year to introduce a third federal electorate for the ACT due to the rate of population growth.

Electoral commissioner and chair of the redistribution committee for the ACT Tom Rogers said "under the proposal the ACT would be broadly divided into northern, central and southern electoral divisions".

The new electorate of Bean will cover the ACT's southern region, including Tuggeranong, the Molonglo Valley, Weston Creek and part of the Woden Valley. The electorate of Fenner will include Gungahlin and most of Belconnen, while Canberra will cover Canberra's inner south and inner north, as well as Majura and parts of the Woden Valley.

It appears that Hindmarsh Drive will form the border between Canberra and Bean.

"With the increase to three federal electoral divisions the northern localities of Gungahlin and Belconnen can no longer be fully contained in a single federal electoral division," Mr Rogers said, addressing the higher rate of population growth in the north of Canberra.

Under the current distribution, the electorate of Fenner, which is held by Labor's Andrew Leigh covers Belconnen and Canberra's inner northern suburbs down to O'Connor and Ainslie, while Canberra, held by Labor's Gai Brodtmann, includes Civic and all of the south of the ACT.

Norfolk Island, which is currently included in the division of Canberra, will become part of Bean, while Jervis Bay will continue to be included in the division of Fenner.

The new electorate will be named after Charles Bean, Australia's official correspondesnt and historian in World War I. After the war he moved to the Tuggeranong Homestead and played a pivotal role in the opening of the Australian War Memorial.

None of the 16 submissions to the AEC suggested naming the new electorate after Charles Bean.

Mr Leigh said he will nominate for the seat of Fenner.

“Assuming the final boundaries are similar to the draft proposal, I’ll seek Labor preselection for Fenner: the seat that most closely overlaps the electorate I currently have the privilege to serve,” he said.

“Another Canberra representative in the House will be most welcome. Better yet if our third MP stands up for Medicare, great schools and a strong public service - as Gai Brodtmann, Katy Gallagher and I do every day.”

Ms Brodtmann said that “subject to preselection” she intends to run for the southernmost seat of the ACT, which on the proposed distribution is the seat of Bean.

She said the name was a “beautiful tribute” to the man who contributed so much to Australia’s war history.

“Given his strong connection with the Tuggeranong Homestead and the valley, the fact that he wrote the official war history at the homestead, it’s a beautiful tribute to Charles Bean,” she said.

Ms Brodtmann said she was pleased to finally see the redistribution proposal.

“As a long term advocate for a third seat I’m delighted that we are now talking boundaries for three seats for the ACT.”

“By any measure the people of the ACT have been underrepresented for too long.”

ACT Labor secretary Matt Byrne said “we are at this stage pretty satisfied with the draft boundaries,” acknowledging that they align closely with the party’s submission.

Mr Byrne said the name Bean “was a bit surprising” and that Labor had a policy of suggesting Indigenous names with a connection to the area.

ACT Greens co-convenor Emma Davidson said the new boundaries of the electorate of Canberra had created one of the “greenest” seats in the country, for which the party would make a strong play.

“This new seat will be a contest between Labor and the Greens and we will be in it to win it, because Canberra and the Greens are on the same page,” Ms Davidson said.

“[The new borders] look very sensible to us,” Ms Davidson said.

Ms Davidson wouldn’t comment on who would run for the seat for the Greens, and said the party hadn’t yet started its preselection process.

Territory Director of the Canberra Liberals Zac Lombardo said the party was "disappointed" at the proposed boundaries.

"The Canberra Liberals are disappointed that the proposed boundaries split the Woden and Belconnen communities, as our town centres are a key feature of the ACT. Our submission to the redistribution committee showed how it was possible to introduce a third electorate without splitting the main town centres, and this was the prime focus for us in preparing our submission," he said.

Mr Lombardo said that the Canberra Liberals’ submission had kept town centres such as Woden and Belconnen united in the boundaries it had suggested, and accused the ALP of suggesting splitting the town centres “for political advantage”.

He said the party welcomed the naming of an electorate after Charles Bean.

The Australian Electoral Commission said that under the proposed resdistribution, 150,003 voters, or 52.02 per cent of voters would be in a new division.

ACT Labor had suggested that the division of Fenner include Gungahlin and most suburbs of Belconnen, and that a central division to be called Molonglo include Civic and the inner suburbs both north and south of Lake Burley Griffin. The party suggested the southern most parts of the ACT, as well as Tuggeranong, Weston Creek and the Woden Valley be included in the electorate of Canberra.

The Canberra Liberals' submission had called for the new electorate to be called Stromlo, which would have included Belconnen as well as the Molonglo Valley and Weston Creek.

Psephologist and writer of the Poll Bludger blog William Bowe said it was almost certain that Labor would win all three seats.

“I think you can take it to the bank that you’ve got three Labor seats,” he said.

“There’s no way you can divide Canberra up without getting three seats that are going to be won by Labor in anything other than extraordinary circumstances. If there is a seat that they might lose then it’s slightly more likely to be Bean than the other two, but they’re all pretty similar,” Mr Bowe said.

While he said the new seat of Canberra would be better for the Greens than Bean or Fenner, he didn’t believe they could challenge Labor for the seat.

“It’s actually Canberra that’s the new electorate, Bean is completely made up of voters from the old Canberra. I guess they’ve kept the name as it is because it’s got the city centre, but Bean is really Canberra, and Canberra is really the new electorate,” Mr Bowe said.

People who wish to lodge an objection or make a comment on the redistribution have until 6pm on Friday, May 4 to contact the AEC and can do so online, in person, by mail or fax.