The Central Goldfields Shire will formally object the proposed repositioning of Maryborough into the federal seat of Mallee as part of a Victorian boundary reshuffle.
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Various electoral boundaries across the state will be altered to create room for an extra federal seat, which has been added in Melbourne’s west to account for population growth.
Maryborough was part of the Bendigo electorate in 2008 before being moved to the seat of Wannon.
The new alignments plan to move Maryborough into the seat of Mallee, held by Mildura-based Nationals MP Andrew Broad.
At a meeting this week the council resolved to lodge a formal submission to the Australian Electoral Commission objecting the proposed changes.
The submission will highlight concerns;
- Central Goldfields Shire will be placed in an electoral where it has limited ‘community of interest’ within the proposed electoral division
- The means of communication and travel within the proposed electoral division is prohibitive for many of its community members and a huge impost on not only council but community group and organisations.
A submission will be provided to the AEC by May 4.
Central Goldfields Shire chief administrator Noel Harvey previously told the Bendigo Advertiser: “Moving around isn't a good thing to be honest.”
“We are a very, very small part of a massive seat. In a seat that size to be brutally honest it’s hard to get the attention of a (federal) member, which we need.
“We seem to get pushed around a bit.”
The Central Goldfields Shire is the most socioeconomically disadvantaged municipality in Victoria and one of the most disadvantaged in Australia, according to 2016 Census data, released earlier this year.
Maryborough is located near the intersection of three electoral seats – Bendigo, Wannon and Mallee.
Mr Harvey said unfortunately the geographical barriers of potentially being in the seat of Mallee – the largest in the state – would affect representation of the shire.
“It’s a concern for me. No way do we have the resources to get in a car/plane and head up to Mildura,” he said.
“The numbers (electors) are the same – the physical separation is the problem.”
The seat of Bendigo avoided major changes as part of the reshuffle proposed by the Australian Electoral Commission.
Parts of the Loddon Shire, including Tarnagulla, Arnold, Newbridge, Shelbourne and Eddington, will move into the seat of Mallee, while further south, Mount Macedon and Macedon will become part of the McEwan electorate, taking around 4000 electors out of the seat of Bendigo.
The redistribution is required to enable an increase from 37 to 38 federal electoral divisions in Victoria.
