South Australia needs area limits on electorates

Unsatisfactory representation.

The people of non-urban South Australia suffer from the same problem as the people in NSW, Victoria, and in fact every Australian State; they are politically irrelevant!

Of the 47 electorates and members of the South Australian House of Assembly (the equivalent is named the Legislative Assembly in both NSW and Victoria), 34 are in the area marked in red, and 13 are in the rest of the State. This being 72% and 28% respectively. This area appears be less than 1% of the area of the State.

The natural and economic environments of the urban and non urban areas are very different, and consequently some of the needs of the people in these areas are also very different. Despite this, governance is in practice entirely decided by the population in the urban area, and regardless of how detrimental it might be to the people in the rest of the State, this is the governance that will be applied.

This is not good governance.

There are a total of 1,317,186 voters in South Australia, with approximately 28,000 in each of the 47 electorates.

It is not a coincidence that South Australia, and in fact each State of Australia, has one dominating population centre. Each dominating population has formed because the politicians elected from this population, to promote their re-election, ensure that as much public service and infrastructure as possible is established and constructed in their electorates. This service and construction requires work, jobs, and people, which adds to the population of the urban area. This increases the number of electorates, and the number of politicians, and the amount of political influence. This also consequently reduces the number of electorates, politicians and amount of political influence in the non urban areas.

This enables the establishment of governance very detrimental to the people outside of the dominant urban population.

The current system of having electorates based on equal population has allowed the formation of politically dominating populations in one small area of each State of Australia, and the practical political irrelevance of the people in the remainder.

For the benefit of all people in all areas of the State, a more representative form of governance is required.

To ensure that all people in all areas of the State retain effective political representation, as The Riverina State Group is advocating, there needs to be area limits on electorates. Area limits will ensure that all people in all areas of the State retain effective representation in Parliament.

An article and video explaining the need for area limits can be viewed HERE.

Abolish the States?

A significant number of people are of the opinion that States should be abolished, and all Australia be governed by the Federal government.

What has probably not been considered is that this will ensure that, as has happened in each State previously, one larger urban population will eventually form, being either Melbourne or Sydney, and this population will dominate all of Australia just as the urban populations currently do in each of the States.

This will be as unsatisfactory for the people outside of this area in the same way that it is currently unsatisfactory for the people outside the greater urban population in each of the States.

Besides the fact that the Federal government is a creation of the States (though colonies at the time) and that these States have, and deserve, original and permanent authority, the States are essential to ensure that all people in all areas of Australia retain some degree of beneficial governance.

David Landini.

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