WA Electoral Commission Does Not Agree

The factors to be considered by the WA Electoral Commission in setting parliamentary electorate boundaries are remarkably similar to those set out for the Local Government Advisory Board in the Local Government Act, 1995.

The Electoral Commission itself, elsewhere (eg taking the southern part of Mt Lawley from the seat of Perth to the seat of Mt Lawley - thus splitting the City of Vincent where it was not previously split), doesn't seem to be overly constrained by 'existing local government boundaries', so we must assume that the other factors exerted substantial influence.

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The proposed boundaries for the state seat of Perth, although notionally including Kings Park, do not include those areas of Subiaco and Nedlands proposed to be incorporated into the City of Perth under the City of Perth Bill. Nor, interestingly, do they include the area of Crawley (including part of UWA) that is already part of the City of Perth.

These same criteria are ignored in the City of Perth Bill, which proposes boundaries that are totally illogical.