Big changes likely for North Sydney electorate boundaries

By Hannah Wilcox

Radical changes may be coming to the electorate of North Sydney due to relatively low population growth and the resulting need to redistribute boundary lines.

The Australian Electoral Committee has received 58 submissions from the public over the last month on suggestions for the federal redistribution of the state’s electorates.

This redistribution will see an abolition of one of NSW’s seats from 47 down to 46 – with indications North Sydney may be the electorate abolished.

The main local stakeholders submitted their own solutions, all with differing viewpoints.

The Liberal Party proposes to abolish the seat of Warringah and combine it with the pre-existing North Sydney seat and inherit the latter’s name, due to North Sydney’s status as a Federation seat. This would include splitting the current North Sydney boundaries three-ways, leaving the incumbent Kylea Tink possibly homeless.

It is worth noting Liberals have begun their pre-selection process on their next candidate for the North Sydney seat before the boundary shifts have been finalised.

Meanwhile, Labor suggested shifting the North Sydney electorate west to take in parts of Ryde, Gladesville and Putney as well as up into parts of Chatswood, Roseville and Lindfield. It noted the electoral division may need to be renamed as it would no longer retain the North Sydney CBD. The area from Crows Nest to Kirribilli would then shift to fall under Warringah.

The Greens want North Sydney expanded to the rest of Chatswood, East Chatswood, Lane Cove as well as Castle Cove, Northbridge and parts of Lindfield to Roseville. The electorate of Bradfield would then be abolished, with the new mega North Sydney seat renamed Cammeraygal. Warringah could then expand west to take in Neutral Bay, Cremorne, Cammeray and parts of North Sydney to Lavender Bay to address the imbalance.

Independent MP Kylea Tink proposed keeping North Sydney, moving north to absorb the rest of the Willoughby LGA as well as east to absorb the balance of the North Sydney LGA – which currently falls under the Warringah electorate – to balance out voter numbers. Tink didn’t offer much clarification on how the existing shortfalls in Mackellar and Warringah would be solved.

Current Warringah MP Zali Steggal recommended moving boundaries north to incorporate Dee Why into the Warringah electorate while shifting her western boundary into North Sydney.

The AEC has estimated the redistribution committee will meet to finalise suggestions by the end of March 2024 latest.

The submissions can be viewed here