A LARGE portion of Mt Eliza is set to move from the Dunkley electorate into Flinders. The changes have been in the works throughout the year, and have now been finalised and gazetted. The Australian Electoral Commission says the new boundaries will come into effect at the next federal election. The boundary separating Dunkley and Flinders now sits across the Nepean Highway and Canadian Bay Road.
The Liberal Party of Victoria objected to the change – in a submission to the AEC, the Liberals wrote “Mount Eliza has been a consistent part of the Dunkley electorate and has strong links to the Frankston area. Mt Eliza is a strong, close-knit community which should remain wholly within the Division of Dunkley. Splitting it unnecessarily divides a strong community of interest.”
“In determining whether to place the united community of Mt Eliza within the Division of Flinders or the Division of Dunkley, the Liberal Party notes that residents in Mt Eliza have a much stronger connection to the city of Frankston than they do to the remainder of the Mornington Peninsula,” the submission read.
Mount Eliza is the only suburb which is inside the Mornington Peninsula Shire municipality but outside the Flinders electorate. In a 2018 redistribution, Mornington was moved from Dunkley into Flinders.
Voters who are affected by the retribution will be automatically placed into the new electorate on the electoral roll.
First published in the Mornington News – 29 October 2024
