The 1948 expansion – what the MPs did next
Today's post is the latest chapter in my series analysing the history of previous parliamentary expansions at a federal level. In my last post, I analysed how the pendulum changed during the 1948 redistribution. For this post, I am going to look at how...
The 1948 expansion – the big map change
The first expansion of parliament was passed in 1948, and came into force at the 1949 election. It was also the largest increase we've seen, either proportionally or in raw numbers. The House and Senate were each expanded by two thirds - the House...
Next federal election guide launched
Yes, it's very early, but I've launched my partial guide to the next Australian federal election, due in 2028.
This guide covers the 102 House seats in New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. These jurisdictions won't have a redistribution (barring an...
The 1984 expansion – reverse musical chairs
When the new electoral map was published in 1984, it kicked off a game of musical chairs, but with a difference - this time there were more seats than players. Some of these seats were more attractive than others, but it wasn't simply a...
The 1984 expansion – how much did the map change?
If there is a substantial expansion of the size of the federal Parliament, it will be a rare event. It has only happened twice before since federation, and hasn't happened at all in my lifetime. About two thirds of Australian voters hadn't cast their...
NSW election guide now live
As part of my efforts to prepare election guides for all of the upcoming elections, I have now published a guide to the 2027 NSW state election. While that election is still almost a year and a half away, the lack of redistributions in...
Federal redistribution projections published
The Australian Electoral Commission yesterday published the official statistics that will be used for federal redistributions in South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT. This gives us a bit more insight into what is likely to happen in those redistributions.
Electorates must be drawn so each...
New Zealand’s new electoral map
New Zealand will go to the polls next year at their next general election, and the electoral map of New Zealand has been redrawn in advance of that election.
New Zealand's parliament is elected via mixed member proportional, with a majority of MPs elected to...
Hinchinbrook by-election incoming
A state by-election will be held in the north Queensland seat of Hinchinbrook at some point near the end of this year or early in 2026, following local MP Nick Dametto's announcement that he will contest the mayoralty of the City of Townsville at...
Who would benefit from an expanded parliament?
Today's blog post is inspired by a strange opinion piece in the Nine papers yesterday by former federal Liberal Attorney-General George Brandis.
Brandis' piece (in addition to incorrectly stating that the last increase in the size of parliament was in 1987) makes two main claims...