Seat of North Sydney set to be abolished
The federal seat of North Sydney would be abolished under a proposed redistribution in NSW, leaving Kylea Tink with few options for next year’s Federal Election.
Ms Tink, who ousted Liberal Trent Zimmerman to win the seat as an independent in 2022, said she was ‘disappointed’ with the Australian Electoral Commission’s (AEC) proposal. The AEC needs to decrease NSW seats by one, and decided North Sydney should be abolished, with Warringah, Bennelong and Bradfield to take in the electors.
On a rainy 14 June, Ms Tink fronted 20 journalists at a press conference underneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge after the AEC draft proposal was released. An emotional Ms Tink said: “This whole experience has never been about me. It’s always been about our community who said they were tired of a two-party system of government.
“Sadly, the issues that saw me elected, faster action on climate, and integrity and transparency in politics, are just as pressing today as they were in 2022. Residents of North Sydney will continue to demand that sort of government representation.
“I will continue to stand up for and fight for the people of North Sydney on the issues that matter most to our community.”
It is understood Ms Tink is taking time to consider her options, as if her seat is abolished, she herself would be in the seat of Bradfield. Another community independent, Nicolette Boele, came close to taking Bradfield off Liberal Paul Fletcher in 2022, making the seat marginal for the first time in history. Ms Boele has already declared she will run for the seat again, hoping to overcome the 4.2 per cent margin.
Fellow ‘teal’ independent in neighbouring Warringah, Zali Steggall, was quick to come out in support of her colleague, calling Ms Tink an ‘excellent’ MP who had done a ‘fantastic’ job. Under the redistribution, Warringah would take in seven suburbs of North Sydney, including Crows Nest and Kirribilli, with some analysts saying it could drop Ms Steggall’s margin by one to two percentage points. Ms Steggall said she was ‘disappointed’ at the decision to cut North Sydney, ‘because it is likely to result in the loss of an independent seat’.
Ms Steggall added that if the boundaries remained as proposed, she would be ‘looking forward to welcoming and serving the many new constituents in Warringah should I be re-elected’.
At the time of writing, there were five objections lodged against the proposal, with a final determination expected on 10 October.
