Independent MP Kylea Tink’s seat of North Sydney is set to be abolished at the next federal election under a draft proposal put forward by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).
The AEC released its draft redistribution of NSW electoral boundaries on Friday, which also includes major changes to the regional seats of Hume, Riverina and Eden-Monaro.
Ms Tink did not indicate if she planned to run for a nearby seat in lieu of North Sydney, and said her focus would be on serving the interests of her community.
“This is really new news and there are people, including myself, who are trying to get their heads around what (the changes) potentially mean,” she told reporters in Sydney.
Taking aim at her Liberal opponents during a press conference on Friday afternoon, Ms Tink added that she would continue to campaign heavily for climate action for her remaining term.
“I need to stay focused, and particularly given the moves we have seen in the last week from the federal opposition with their statements that if elected a Dutton-Liberal Coalition government would walk away from our interim targets for 2030.
“To be clear, our nation has no hope of hitting net zero by 2050 if we do not have interim targets, and the people of North Sydney are incredibly pragmatic and understand that.”
More than 700,000 enrolled voters would swap federal electoral divisions under the redrawing of the electoral map.
Under the recommendations, the once-safe federal Liberal seat of North Sydney, won by Ms Tink in 2022, would reshuffle voters into the nearby seats of Bradfield, Bennelong, Bradfield, and Warringah.
Liberal MP Paul Fletcher’s seat of Bradfield would be likely be challenged by a large portion of voters previously in Teal-held seats in Sydney’s northern suburbs entering his electorate.
In a written statement issued on Friday, Mr Fletcher said he “welcomed” the retaining of his seat and anticipated the final changes which will be released in October.
Teal MP Zali Steggall, who holds the seat of Warringah, said she was “very disappointed” by the proposal to scrap North Sydney and said her electorate was set to gain 36,000 voters under the plan.
“These are quite substantial changes … I think there will be a lot for Kylea to consider,” Ms Steggall said on Friday.
Liberal shadow treasurer Angus Taylor’s seat of Hume would move further into the outskirts of Sydney and shed the regional centre of Goulburn.
Goulburn will move into the Labor-held seat of Eden-Monaro, which was won by Kristy McBain in 2020.
The seat of Cook, formerly held by former prime minister Scott Morrison, would be renamed to jointly honour both Captain James Cook and Australia’s sixth prime minister, Joseph Cook.
Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers said the plans were required to facilitate a decrease from 47 to 46 electoral divisions.
“Under the proposal, some significant changes would occur, with the boundaries of New South Wales divisions being amended to accommodate the decrease,” Mr Rogers said
“Forty-five of the existing 47 division names would be retained.”
Objections to the changes must be submitted by July 12.