Nationals desperate to erode Saffin's Northern Rivers electoral base?

Out of federal government and obviously hurting, the National Party of Australia is rumoured to be making a concerted effort to undermine Labor's sitting Federal MP for Page, Janelle Saffin.

To that end the Nationals have suggested to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) that it undertake a little tidying up of the current boundaries between Page and Cowper which is currently held by Nationals MP Luke Hartsuyker.

It is no accident that the town it wants to tidy up into Cowper is Yamba, which co-incidentally strongly supported Saffin at the 2007 election and predominately voted Labor consistently over the last few state and federal elections.

The exchange the Nationals are suggesting to compensate for Yamba's removal is to include in the Page electorate a couple of areas with what are believed to have traditional Nationals profiles.

The Nationals seem to believe that Luke Hartsuyker would easily win over Yamba hearts and minds if Yamba voters were to find themselves in his electorate at the next federal election and, that Janelle Saffin would find it difficult to maintain her seat in light of such a voter loss.

It is interesting to note that the Liberal Party submission proposes no changes to the electoral boundaries of Cowper, Page and Richmond. This flies directly in the face of the Nationals wish list for the NSW North Coast.

Unsurprisingly the Labor Party's counter move, to the Nationals attempt to place more Nationals-leaning areas in Page, is to lobby for Maclean to be removed from Cowper and placed in the Page electorate.

National Party of Australia submission to the AEC, May 2009
Liberal Party of Australia submission to the AEC, May 2009
Australian Labor Party submission to the AEC, undated
Full list of submissions on proposed 2009 federal electoral boundaries redistribution
Comments on submissions

It's Enrol To Vote Week across Australia from 27 July - 2 August 2009

From Australian Electoral Commission media release on 30 June 2009:

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is encouraging more secondary schools to register for national Enrol to Vote Week to be held from 27 July to 2 August this year.

Electoral Commissioner Ed Killesteyn said over 1550 secondary schools and colleges across Australia had already registered to participate in Enrol to Vote Week and there was still time for other schools to get involved.

"Enrol to Vote Week involves the AEC working in partnership with Australian secondary schools to encourage 17- and 18-year-old students to enrol to vote."

Mr Killesteyn said Enrol to Vote Week last year received strong support from over 1700 participating schools, with over 20,000 enrolment forms collected as part of the initiative.

"Currently one in five 18 to 24-year-olds is not enrolled to vote, increasing to around one in two 18-year-olds not enrolled. In addition, many 17-year-olds are not aware that they can enrol now so they are able to vote as soon as they turn 18," he said.

"This year the focus of Enrol to Vote Week is to encourage and assist 17-year-olds to enrol so they are automatically able to vote as soon as they turn 18. Our message is that enrolling to vote is not something you have to wait until you're 18 to do."

Mr Killesteyn said AEC officers would be available for in-school visits during Enrol to Vote Week and would support students in completing their enrolment forms at school.

Schools can register to participate in Enrol to Vote Week 2009 by visiting www.enroltovoteweek.aec.gov.au or by calling 13 23 26 and selecting the Enrol to Vote Week option.

The website has more information about the initiative, as well as a search feature to enable anyone to see which schools in their local community are participating.

Website: http://www.enroltovoteweek.aec.gov.au/
Hotline: 13 23 26 (select the Enrol to Vote Week option)

The hunt is on for 1.2 million 'missing' Australian voters

There are over 1.2 million people in the Australian population who are eligible to vote but who haven't registered with the Australian Electoral Commission according to a recent media release.

Electoral Commissioner, Ed Killesteyn said the AEC was stepping up its efforts to find these missing Australians and encourage them to enrol to vote.
"We are currently sending over 550,000 personally addressed letters across the country to where we think these Australians—about half of those missing from the electoral roll—might be living.
The mail-out package will include an enrolment form and reply paid envelope.

I will be interested to see how this drive to find these 'missing' voters turns out.

Because I can't help wondering just how many are phantoms created by incorrectly spelt names being originally entered into government digital databases.

I once had a digital shadow because one letter was left off my name during an AEC update of the rolls and this caused me no end of problems at the polling booth until it was sorted.

Six Nervous Pollies or Where will NSW lose its next federal electorate in 2009?

In December 2008 Malcolm McKerras predicted that the NSW electorates of Gilmore and Throsby would possibly merge in any 2009 redistribution.
In February 2009 Antony Green is tipping; "Fowler and Macarthur are currently the NSW electorates with the lowest total enrolment and therefore subject to amalgamation, not Gilmore and Throsby. However, if the branch of Sydney Harbour known as Iron Cove is ignored and the boundary viewed as contigous, then any mini-redistribution on current numbers would see Lowe and Sydney amalgamated."
The Australian Electoral Commission has begun the lengthy redistribution process.
So which pollie will have to go?
And does this mean that we have avoided a politically expedient early federal election push by the government of the day or an opposition trying to scare us with the threat of one?