Special Minister of State Don Farrell has called for consideration of increasing the number of federal politicians in Australia’s parliament.
The Albanese government has considered increasing the number of MPs in the federal parliament, at a potential cost of $25 million per 10 parliamentarians.Special Minister of State Don Farrell has called for consideration of increasing the number of federal politicians in Australia’s parliament.
Mr Farrell cited population growth and workload pressures on MPs as justification for potentially increasing the number of electorates. It comes after he tasked the joint committee on electoral matters with examining whether more politicians should represent voters in the upper and lower houses. “Since Federation, so 125 years ago, the parliament has only been increased twice,” Mr Farrell told Sky News Sunday Agenda.”At that time, the population of Australia was 16 million. By the time of the next election, the population will almost have doubled, we will be about 29 million people. “So, all I’ve said is it’s worth having consideration as to whether now is the time to look at increasing the representation in the federal parliament.” Special Minister of State Don Farrell has called for consideration of increasing the number of federal politicians in Australia’s parliament. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman Mr Farrell said that the more people in each electorate, the more work needs to be done, so by increasing the number of electorates, it could reduce the amount of work for MPs. Australia’s parliament has expanded only twice since federation in 1901, with the last increase under Hawke in the mid-1980s — from 125 MPs to 148 seats. Population growth since then has seen electorates swell significantly, with some seats now home to more than 200,000 residents. By comparison, MPs in countries like Britain, Canada, and New Zealand represent significantly smaller populations. An extra 10 parliamentarians would cost taxpayers more than $25 million annually, factoring in salaries, staff, travel, and office expenses. The Special Minister of State has also tasked the committee with exploring the possibility of four year fixed terms. However, the change from three year unfixed terms would require a referendum, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ruled out holding one. “It would require a referendum. And again, that’s obviously a difficult barrier to overcome,” Mr Farrell said. “It’s an issue worth considering. All of the state governments now have four-year terms, so the states have managed to achieve this. “They don’t have the same constitutional requirements that the federal government does, but again it’s an issue worth having consideration of.”
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