The ABC’s Antony Green is having a look at the process underway to expand the Legislative Assembly:
The ACT’s original electoral system elected 17 members at large. The introduction of the Hare-Clark electoral system in the existing 17 member Assembly created the undesirable situation where the three electorates return different numbers of members. If the Assembly is to increase in size, the two most commonly suggested options are a 21 member Assembly with three seven-member electorates, or a 25 member Assembly with five five-member electorates.
The ACT is under-represented per head of population in the Commonwealth parliament, has no local government, and so the argument has been put that the Legislative Assembly should have more members.
The Expert Reference Group has released a discussion paper where all these issues are outlined. The Group has now called for public submissions.
The discussion paper is here and submissions close on 1 March.