Does Callington belong in the Hills or Murraylands? The AEC weighs in
A proposed boundary change would shift Callington, Langhorne Creek and other communities into the electorate of Barker at the next federal election.
Is Callington part of the Adelaide Hills or the Murraylands?
The Australian Electoral Commission recently fed its two cents into an age-old debate, proposing a change to the electorate boundary which currently runs through the middle of the town.
Instead of being split along the Bremer River, the AEC has proposed shifting both Cally and neighbouring Kanmantoo into the federal electorate of Barker.
The electorate, currently represented by Liberal MP Tony Pasin, stretches from the Murraylands across the Mallee, up into the Riverland and down to the South East.
At present, the western half of Callington sits in Mayo, represented by independent MP Rebekha Sharkie.
The eastern part of the Alexandrina council district – including Langhorne Creek, Woodchester, Milang and Clayton Bay – would also shift into Barker.
Why the change?
In keeping with the principle that everyone’s vote should count the same, all federal electorates need to have roughly the same population.
A review found that, due to population decline, Barker needed to gain between 376 and 9918 voters.
“Redrawing the boundaries needs to ensure that all of South Australia’s federal electorates remain as equal as possible, not just now but heading into the future as well,” Australian Electoral Commissioner Jeff Pope said.
“The (redistribution) committee considers the proposed redistribution will result in electorates that improve current communities of interest and use strong and readily identifiable features as electorate boundaries.”
Members of the public have until April 24 to give feedback on the proposed change.
- Have your say: Fill in the form at formupload.aec.gov.au or email fedredistribution-sa@aec.gov.au by 6pm next Friday, April 24.
- More information: www.aec.gov.au.
