Mayo welcomes 14,000 new voters

Posted August 21, 2018

South Australia’s representation in Federal Parliament has dropped from 11 to 10 seats and the Member for Mayo Rebekha Sharkie has welcomed nearly 14,000 new voters from neighbouring electorates with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) tabling its final report on the state’s redistribution in the Senate this week.

Prompted by South Australia’s falling population, the redistribution of electorates began in early September 2017 with the AEC eventually resolving to abolish the seat of Port Adelaide.

There was speculation that Mayo that might be the seat to be axed but that scenario was averted after 195 residents in the electorate made submissions to the AEC to keep the electorate intact.

“That was an unusually large number of submissions for a redistribution process, representing 90 per cent of the 211 submissions received by the AEC, so it speaks volumes about the sense of connection the communities in Mayo have," Rebekha said.

“While I still think it is an incredibly sad day for South Australia to lose a voice in our Federal Parliament, I do want to take this opportunity to welcome our new voters from Kingston and Boothby into Mayo and to reassure voters who move into Barker, Kingston and Sturt that they can always contact my Centre Alliance colleagues in the Senate to advocate on their behalf.

“I have written to my parliamentary colleagues in neighbouring electorates to ask them to join me in co-hosting community forums for those residents affected by the redistribution.

“It is early days in terms of organising events but I do believe, in the spirit of bipartisanship, that South Australian MPs should do everything they can to make the change as smooth as possible and to reassure voters that their communities will be looked after.”

The boundaries of Mayo have been altered in the north and the south-west with the number of electors increasing from 106,191 voters to around 120,000.

Map: The areas shaded in red indicate areas where voters are moving into new electorates and the areas shaded green indicate areas where voters are moving into Mayo.

Mayo will lose about 4000 electors from;

• The Barossa Council, including the towns of Springton and Mount Pleasant;
• The suburb of Seaford Heights and part of Happy Valley, which move to the proposed Division of Kingston;
• Part of the suburbs of Rostrevor, Teringie and Woodforde which move to the proposed Division of Sturt.

Mayo will gain nearly 18,000 electors from;

• The suburbs of Coromandel Valley, Craigburn Farm and Hawthorndene from the Division of Boothby;
• The suburbs of Aldinga Beach, Port Willunga and Sellicks Beach and Aldinga from the Division of Kingston.

Rebekha said the AEC proposal was a measured approach to the difficult issue of abolishing a seat while still maintaining the political status quo and protecting community interests.

“Mayo is a cohesive community stretching from the Adelaide Hills to the Fleurieu Peninsula and Kangaroo Island, " she said.

“It did not make sense for our community to be represented by an MP based in metropolitan Adelaide, and I am happy that the redistribution committee has elected to keep Mayo as an electorate.

"I look forward to connecting with the new areas of the electorate and speaking with members of the community about the issues that concern them.”