AEC proposes boundary changes to Brand and Canning Federal electorates as part of redistribution in WA

Voters in Brand and Canning are set to be among those in WA moving under the Australian Electoral Commission’s proposed shake up of Federal electorate boundaries. The proposed redistribution of WA electoral divisions released on Friday suggests the creation of a new Federal seat in the Perth Hills named Bullwinkel after nurse and WWII prisoner of war Lieutenant Colonel Vivian Bullwinkel. After the war, she became the director of nursing at Melbourne’s Fairfield Hospital and advocated strongly for moving Australian nursing education from hospitals to universities. The creation of the new seat will see an expected 11,298 electors in Canning transfer to Bullwinkel, covering the suburbs of Ashendon, Bedfordale, Canning Mills, Carmel, Karragullen, Lesley, part of Martin, Mt Richon, Pickering Brook, Roleystone and part of Wungong. The redistribution also proposes moving Byford, Darling Downs, part of Hilbert and Oakford from Canning to Burt, and shifting voters in the Shire of Waroona to Forrest. While ultimately losing electors, Canning will gain Golden Bay, Karnup, part of Keralup, Secret Harbour and Singleton from Brand. Canning MHR Andrew Hastie said while the proposal was pending finalisation, he was looking forward to reaching out to his new constituents. “I know many people living in the new areas of Canning are struggling with cost of living, they’re concerned about local crime, immigration rates, and housing availability and affordability — and I can assure them that I will work the best I can with them to address these important issues,” he said. “It has been an honour to represent the suburbs that have been removed and I want the community to be assured that I will continue to represent them until the next Federal election.” Brand will lose an expected 17,845 electors from its southern suburbs under the proposal but is not expected to make any gains because it currently has more than the maximum number of projected electors required by the Electoral Act. The redistribution would see the boundaries change on all of WA’s Federal seats, with an estimated 264,547 voters, or about 14.6 per cent of the population, finding themselves in a new electorate at the next election. Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers said the redistribution was needed because population growth in WA meant it had to increase from 15 to 16 electorates. “Under the proposal, the boundaries of all of WA’s existing electoral divisions would change and the additional division of Bullwinkel would be created,” he said. “Ongoing population growth in parts of WA has led the Redistribution Committee to propose a number of substantial changes to the State’s electoral division boundaries.” The report can be seen online and objections can be made until June 28.