A DRAFT redistribution of SA electoral boundaries would have a negative impact on Port Augusta and Upper Spencer Gulf communities if adopted, according to Port Augusta City Council mayor Brett Benbow.
Port Augusta would be split between two electorates under the redistribution, a draft of which was released by the Electoral Districts Boundaries Commission on Friday.
A portion of Port Augusta West would land in Giles, shared with Whyalla, while the East would land in Stuart, shared with Port Pirie.
Port Pirie will shift from Frome, held by independent MP Geoff Brock, to Stuart, held by Liberal MP Dan van Holst Pellekaan.
The move would result in the three Upper Spencer Gulf cities being represented by only two members of parliament, not three.
Mr Benbow said Port Augusta City Council could see "no benefits whatsoever" to splitting the town between two electorates and they would likely re-submit its original submission denouncing such a move, despite it already "falling on deaf ears".
"From my understanding it won't be a split straight down the middle either," he said.
"It will be worked out in relation to a quota and that makes it even more difficult where that quota, or boundary, is going to end and start.
"Everybody's got the idea that we'd draw a line down the middle of the Great Western Bridge, but I don't think that's the case at all."
Mr Benbow said having two parliamentary representatives to report to would be challenging for council, saying they would have to get the same messages to two different people and hope they listened and understood in the same way.
"It's an open book at the moment, though," he said.
"Are we impressed with the proposal that's been put forward? No we're not, but we always try to be resilient and try to plan ahead and work out how we can manage this."
RELATED READING: Boundary shift proposals met with firm opposition
EDBC secretary David Gully said the commission was faced with declining populations in regional districts, and with a number being outside of the allowable tolerance, had to address the mandatory Constitution Act 1934 obligation that each district must comprise a number of electors within 10 per cent of the electoral quota.
The EDBC report stated unique geographical features of the state had always made redistributions in regional electorates complex.
"That complexity is added to by the fact that most of the population is concentrated in very few regional towns, being Port Lincoln, Whyalla, Port Augusta and Port Pirie," the report stated.
To comply with electoral quota requirements, the EDBC could see no alternative but to split Port Augusta between Giles and Stuart.
"The suggestion to simply amalgamate the regional districts into three districts is not as simple as it seems," the report said.
"There is always a cascading effect of moving numbers around, which affect all of the other districts."
There were wholesale changes across the state as part of the redistribution shuffle to meet the 10pc quota, with Mount Gambier the only one of the 47 electorates to not change.
Hammond was downsized due to taking in Mount Barker from Kavel, losing the District Council of Karoonda East Murray and portions of the Mid Murray Council, including Mannum, to Chaffey, while the Southern Mallee District Council, including the Coomandook base of present Liberal MP Adrian Pederick, has been moved into fellow Liberal Nick McBride's seat of MacKillop.
The Whyalla-based seat of Giles, held by opposition agriculture spokesman Eddie Hughes, has lost the District Council of Franklin Harbour, including Cowell, the District Council of Kimba and part of the Pastoral Unincorporated Area to Flinders as a result of picking up some of Port Augusta.
BROCK TO CONTEST STUART IF PORT PIRIE SHIFT CONFIRMED
IF NEW proposed electoral boundaries are adopted in SA, present independent Member for Frome Geoff Brock will contest the seat of Stuart at the next state election.
Mr Brock said he was proud of what he had achieved for Frome and was not unfamiliar with boundary changes, having been subject to many since winning the 2009 Frome by-election, but his allegiances lay with his home city of Port Pirie, which will be included the Stuart electorate with part of Port Augusta.
Stuart is presently held by Liberal MP Dan van Holst Pellekaan.
"I've lived in Port Pirie all of my life, bar seven years at Port Augusta, so my loyalties have to lie with my own city," Mr Brock said.
"At the next election I intend to contest the revamped seat of Stuart."
While Mr Brock could accept contesting a different seat, he was disappointed in the proposal to split Port Augusta into two electorates and reduce parliamentary representation of the Upper Spencer Gulf.
"The Upper Spencer Gulf has been, and always will be, a powerhouse for the state and yet it's going to have less parliamentary representation," he said.
When asked about the proposed boundaries, Mr van Holst Pellekaan referred to previous submissions he had made on the matter
He has remained steadfast in saying the cities of the Upper Spencer Gulf would suffer from a lack of representation caused by the redistribution proposal.
Written submissions concerning the draft boundaries are being accepted until September 16, with the Electoral Districts Boundaries Commission to finalise new boundaries in November.
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