Goodbye Maranoa
"How do you get to Gladstone from here?" is the question many Western Queenslanders are asking after the Australian Electoral Commission announced on Monday it has gone ahead with plans to redistribute the federal electoral boundary of Maranoa.
It’s a tricky question to answer, given there are no direct roads to the busy port city.
Despite two special AEC meetings, in Longreach and Brisbane, designed to consider opposition to the federal realignment, the shires of Barcaldine, Ilfracombe, Isisford, Jericho, Blackall, Longreach, Winton, Aramac and Tambo have been stripped from the seat of Maranoa to create the new Queensland electorate, Flynn.
The people of the Central West lodged over 90 objections to the proposed redistribution, citing lack of economic and social alignment - and road infrastructure - with the coastal hub as a deterrent to receiving adequate representation in Federal Parliament.
A crowd of over 30 people turned out to support the 13 speakers at the special protest meeting held in in Longreach on August 21, including seven shire mayors.
AEC State manager and Australian Electoral Officer Anne Bright said the commission’s hands were "tied".
"After careful consideration, the commission was unable to make the changes, based on the need to comply with the legislation," she said.
Legislation states that an electorate have between 76,698 and 93,742 electors. Queensland’s ever-rising population requires electorate boundaries to be redrawn every few years to satisfy the number crunchers.
The AEC’s disinterest in redrawing the electorates drew many to conclude the public meetings were a token gesture. Ms Bright responded: "It is disappointing that people think that the [Longreach] meeting was not a genuine part of the process, because it was."
"There are eight shires with a community of interest in the Western part of Flynn - over time this homogeneity will build," she consoled.
On the streets on Longreach earlier this week many people were confused at the need for change.
"Obviously you can’t please everyone, but I can’t understand why they would put us in with Gladstone," one local said. Local doctor David Walker commented: "The new federal member is going to have his hands full trying to cater to everyone’s needs."
The AEC changed the electorate’s suggested name from Wright, after community consultation revealed that people were associating it with disgraced former MP Keith Wright, instead of its intended namesake, poet Judith Wright. John Flynn is the founder of the RFDS.
It’s a tricky question to answer, given there are no direct roads to the busy port city.
Despite two special AEC meetings, in Longreach and Brisbane, designed to consider opposition to the federal realignment, the shires of Barcaldine, Ilfracombe, Isisford, Jericho, Blackall, Longreach, Winton, Aramac and Tambo have been stripped from the seat of Maranoa to create the new Queensland electorate, Flynn.
The people of the Central West lodged over 90 objections to the proposed redistribution, citing lack of economic and social alignment - and road infrastructure - with the coastal hub as a deterrent to receiving adequate representation in Federal Parliament.
A crowd of over 30 people turned out to support the 13 speakers at the special protest meeting held in in Longreach on August 21, including seven shire mayors.
AEC State manager and Australian Electoral Officer Anne Bright said the commission’s hands were "tied".
"After careful consideration, the commission was unable to make the changes, based on the need to comply with the legislation," she said.
Legislation states that an electorate have between 76,698 and 93,742 electors. Queensland’s ever-rising population requires electorate boundaries to be redrawn every few years to satisfy the number crunchers.
The AEC’s disinterest in redrawing the electorates drew many to conclude the public meetings were a token gesture. Ms Bright responded: "It is disappointing that people think that the [Longreach] meeting was not a genuine part of the process, because it was."
"There are eight shires with a community of interest in the Western part of Flynn - over time this homogeneity will build," she consoled.
On the streets on Longreach earlier this week many people were confused at the need for change.
"Obviously you can’t please everyone, but I can’t understand why they would put us in with Gladstone," one local said. Local doctor David Walker commented: "The new federal member is going to have his hands full trying to cater to everyone’s needs."
The AEC changed the electorate’s suggested name from Wright, after community consultation revealed that people were associating it with disgraced former MP Keith Wright, instead of its intended namesake, poet Judith Wright. John Flynn is the founder of the RFDS.
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