Gungahlin sundered for 2012 in the electoral redistribution

Bosworth said :

Also, why don’t we have one electorate with 17 members? That way the minor parties might have a chance. The Community alliance and Motorist Party miss out. They would have one seat each under this system in 2008. ‘local representation’ can be solved by the major parties assigning members to deal with local issues from specific areas

You’ve just answered your own question: a single electorate means fewer plum positions for the major parties. (Labor didn’t have the numbers to inflict self-government on us without bribing the Democrats, which is why we don’t have single member electorates. We were at least able to express our displeasure at the Democrats by keeping them out of the assembly).
Mind you, if the Greens and Liberals between them had a majority in the assembly, they could attempt to change to a single electorate – whether it would get through the Federal govt or not, don’t know. Maybe, at least after the next election! (I guess it depends on whether the preferences of the minor parties go mostly to Labor or the Liberals).

The electorate boundaries are just there to make the election process easier. After election day, they go out the window as, in general, they are irrelevant.

I have yet to see many issues in this city where they only apply to one particular electorate, if it happens here it normally effects most people, no matter what electorate they live in. Ever seen a member for Molonglo campaigning the government about an issue only applying to that area? The members are either ministers, shadow ministers or useless labor members on the back bench doing nothing.

johnboy said :

Highly democratic, not very representative I’d say.

Not democratic either, as we live in an elective oligarchy rather than a democracy.

We could have one electorate and we the voters tell the candidates (if we wish to) – you are the person I voted for and I want you to represent my interests. Here is where I live, these are things I am interested in, and if you want my opinion on any of these things then here is how to contact me. The system is meant to be a representative democracy. How can people represent us if they do not know who we are and what we want? Of course if you want to keep your vote secret then that is fine but if you want to tell the person they are your representative then you should be able to do that too. This means there is no need for all this bother about electorates.

The existing system means that probably 49% of the people have no representative. The proposed system means we will all have a representative – even if they are not our first choice.

Highly democratic, not very representative I’d say.

damien haas said :

Canberra needs more local electorates and the ability to hold MLA’s accountable for individual electorates. I’d like 25 members and 25 electorates. The current system delivers substandard democracy. Particularly for voters in Molonglo.

Fortunately im in Ginniderra, and i welcome our new Crace and Palmerston brethren!

Many people would contend Damien that single member electorates are not particularly democratic. Myself included. Baby – bathwater…

Canberra needs more local electorates and the ability to hold MLA’s accountable for individual electorates. I’d like 25 members and 25 electorates. The current system delivers substandard democracy. Particularly for voters in Molonglo.

Fortunately im in Ginniderra, and i welcome our new Crace and Palmerston brethren!

chewy14 said :

Actually looking at it now,
what happens when the Molonglo development fully gets going in the next year or two?
Will they slowly leak the Gungahlin suburbs back to Ginninderra or something else?

Chewy: yes most likely – so we’ll end up in much the same place anyway, just slower.
Unless we get a remake on the Assemby size first – preferred.

Indeed JB. And I’d add that having offices out in the electorates makes for one less thing people have to commute out for. It has been working well since Brisbane City Councillors started moving out of Town Hall. Why not here?

BTW one other thing I said was that perhaps with three Gungahlin suburbs in Ginninderra instead of just one, maybe certain Ginninderra MLAs who’ve been ignoring Gungahlin the last 8 years could be expected to show up a bit more often that just the “meet the candidates” night…

Actually looking at it now,
what happens when the Molonglo development fully gets going in the next year or two?
Will they slowly leak the Gungahlin suburbs back to Ginninderra or something else?