Objections to the redistribution of the federal electorate | Ferntree Gully Star Mail

By Callum Ludwig

Victorian Redistribution has the next stage of the federal electorate under way, with objections to the Australian Electoral Commission’s (AEC) draft decision now being considered.

The Star Mail looked at objections to the Outer East seats of Casey, Aston and Deakin to see what else voters want to see happen locally.

As the Star Mail recently reported, there are a number of advocates for changing the name of the Casey electorate, with the Voices 4 Casey group submitting its petition in objections with 173 signatures when the group handed it in, with 16 individuals and groups. including Yarra Ranges Council and Millgrove Resident’s Action Group supported it in submissions before the draft AEC proposal.

In objections, Monbulk resident Tanya Vernes, Belgrave resident Hayn Lindemans, The Victorian Greens, Marimba Wilkie and Alex Nottle joined calls for a name change for Casey, citing confusion with the town of Casey, William Barak’s importance to the region or both their reasoning.

In terms of electorate changes, most objections that noted Casey were largely in support of keeping the electorate largely the same and/or taking Wonga Park and several other northern suburbs, including the company’s CEO of buses McKenzie’s Tourist Services, Brad Sanders, Victorian branch of the Liberal Party, Voices 4 Casey, Joel McAlister, Yarra Valley Business President Lisa Crunden, Healesville Football Netball Club President Toby Millman, Coldstream Football Netball Club President Ash Rankin, Lilydale Football Netball Club President Anthony Simmons, Kilsyth Cricket Club President Shaun Goodwin and Clark McKenzie.

Objections to Casey’s proposal focused on the missed opportunity to expand on the southern border (Emerald, Cockatoo, Gembrook) rather than the proposed northern border (Wonga Park, Christmas Hills, Panton Hill and St Andrews), while what others have made other suggestions as part. of significantly different proposals in all or more divisions.

One opponent in particular was disappointed that Wonga Park would leave Menzies, while two others proposed that Casey could expand even further to Warrandyte rather than the Nillumbik Shire.

In Aston, objections focused on the proposed boundary with the Deakin electorate and the subsequent transfers of parts of Ringwood, Heathmont, Bayswater North and Kilsyth South south of Canterbury Road.

Heathmont residents and community groups were particularly unhappy with the proposal to adopt Canterbury Road as the new boundary rather than retain the previous Dandenong Creek boundary. The proposal effectively divides Heathmont into north and south, raising issues such as the Heathmont Tennis Club being represented by a different member than Heathmont Station.

Heathmont residents David Harper, Prue Gill, Don Kordick, Margaret Harrington, Neil Harrington, David Gee, Joanne Hart-Parker, Donald Hamilton, Graeme Tonkin, Lynette Tonkin, Roland Ashby, Roslyn Ashby, Malcolm McDonald and Croydon resident Ann Albrecht , were all concerned while Heathmont Tennis Club and Maroondah City Council also opposed the change.

Apart from concerns about Heathmont, Aston was also put forward as a suggestion to be abolished by Colin McLaren and considered a more suitable option for abolition by John Corcoran.

In Deakin, in addition to the objections to the Aston boundary, proposals for the northern and north-west boundaries have drawn divided opinion from voters.

Mitcham resident Dr Paul Rival was pleased with the proposed changes for Deakin, praising bringing the rest of Mitcham and Nunawading as well as Donvale, Park Orchards and Warrandyte South into the electorate. Dr Rival believes that Donvale is mainly connected to the centers of Mitcham and Ringwood and Park with Ringwood Orchards and, to a lesser extent, Croydon. He questioned the inclusion of parts of Blackburn and Blackburn North rather than creating the western boundary at Springvale Road.

Donvale resident Clark McKenzie was also happy with the changes, similarly citing the link between town centers and acknowledging previous criticism of Menzies’ boundaries stretching from Wonga Park to Bulleen before the proposed changes.

Negative responses came from Wonga Park CFA Captain Aaron Farr and Manningham City Council, both citing the historic alignment between the Manningham LGA and the Menzies electorate, while Mr Farr also cited Greater Warrandyte CFA groups who would should communicate with four federal members as proposed. changes (Jagajaga, Menzies, Deakin and Casey).

Maroondah Business Group president Jenny Newman largely supported changes in Deakin out of necessity, but called for future redistributions to prioritize bringing the Maroondah LGA under one electorate if possible.

Another big talking point was the disappointment of a number of opponents over errors in the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ initial projections of voter registration in 2028, which affected their initial submissions. Victorian Labour, the Victorian Liberals, an anonymous objector, Jeff Waddell and Colin McLaren all mentioned this in their objections, while Dr Mark Mulcair, Dr Charles Richardson, Mr Waddell and Victorian Labor raised suspicions earlier in the process of sending.

The error was not recognized and resolved until after the submission period had ended, meaning that all submissions from the public used the incorrect projections.

Regarding the main parties’ objections:

The Victorian Liberals did not propose any changes to the Casey or Aston proposals from the AEC, but recommended that in future they should not extend further into the Dandenong Ranges and Nillumbik Shire respectively. They only suggested that the portion of Burwood East included in the AEC proposal should not be added to Deakin.

Victorian Labor has proposed that Warranwood, Park Orchards, Ringwood North, Croydon and Croydon Hills go to Menzies instead to place the Manningham Council areas of Deakin back into Menzies, the Dandenong Creek boundary for Heathmont and Ringwood be retained and Aston takes over Bayswater North, Kilsyth, Kilsyth South and Croydon South in Deakin. Victorian Labor did not propose any changes to Casey from the AEC proposal.

The Victorian Greens proposed that Cockatoo, Emerald and Gembrook go into Casey from La Trobe, making no alternative proposals for Aston or Deakin.