Kylea Tink pushes to plead her case
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is likely to hold an inquiry over the proposed abolition of the seat of North Sydney, following the receipt of hundreds of objections to the move.
Last month, the independent Redistribution Committee announced it would abolish North Sydney in an attempt to reduce a federal seat under a planned redistribution for NSW. The move prompted a campaign by locals to ‘save North Sydney,’ with 2,300 signing a petition to keep the seat, and hundreds of objections lodged with the AEC.
“There has been a groundswell of public opposition to the AEC’s proposal,” Ms Tink said in her submission to the committee.
Ms Tink requested she be allowed to appear before the committee to ‘present the views of the community’ before the final determination on 10 October. An AEC spokesperson told NL that this was not possible, but a public inquiry was ‘likely’. “There is provision for a public inquiry to be held where an individual may address the augmented Electoral Commission on any matter raised in an objection.” The spokesperson drew attention to the fact that there would be public inquiries for other current Australian redistributions, saying ‘there almost always is’ for these processes. As for whether the committee would change its mind over scrapping North Sydney, it has happened – just once, in 2010 – when the abolition of Murray in Victoria did not proceed.
An inquiry could be a lifeline for the embattled MP, who would struggle to find a seat to run in if North Sydney is palmed out to the surrounding areas, including Bradfield, as is planned.
Under the proposal, Warringah would assume much of the North Sydney electorate in a push west of its current boundary.
Ms Tink has put forward an ‘alternative and superior’ solution, that Bradfield and Berowa of the Upper North Shore be merged. “This requires fewer boundary adjustments and improves current disconnection of communities of interest in the wider northern Sydney region,” Ms Tink said.
North Sydney was the third-largest CDB in Australia, Ms Tink highlighted. “The proposal overlooks the opportunity to strengthen this community of interest to instead pull it to pieces.”
The AEC spokesperson said a decision on the potential inquiry, its location and timing was yet to be made.
