Canberra may have more senators come the next election. At the Australian Labor Party’s conference in Brisbane today, delegates passed a motion to increase the number of Senators in both the ACT and the Northern Territory.
“Labor will review our current system of electoral representation, noting Australia’s growing and increasingly diverse population, the increasing demands on elected representatives, and our commitment to integrity and transparency,” the motion passed today states.
“Labor will address the historic proportional under-representation of the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory, and commits to increasing its representation in the Senate.”
The Labor conference also voted to oppose interference in Territory matters – whether it be voluntary assisted dying or the compulsory acquisition of Calvary Public Hospital Bruce (now North Canberra Hospital).
“The Labor Party will always stand up for territory rights,” Senator Katy Gallagher tweeted on X.
Australia has 76 Senators: 12 in each state and two each from the ACT and Northern Territory. Construction union national secretary Zach Smith and NT attorney-general Chansey Paech proposed that the number of Senators in the ACT and the NT rise from two each to six each.
Many in the ACT believe the Territories need more Senators. Chief Minister Andrew Barr has said that four senators for the ACT could be appropriate, as The Guardian reported last year, while Independent Senator David Pocock and former Senate candidate Professor Kim Rubenstein advocated in June for electoral reform to address Territory representation.
Senator Pocock has proposed that the ACT should have six senators, tripling its current number, and that their length of service should double from three years to six. This would bring them in line with the rest of the country; at the moment, Senator Pocock said, “the ACT and the NT have fewer Senators on shorter terms than the states”.
Likewise, at last year’s election, Professor Rubenstein, a legal scholar and practitioner, had prepared legislation to double the number of Senators to four in the Senate; this would afford the Territory more proportional representation.
Senator Pocock said today that he welcomed the Labor Party’s commitment to increased Senate representation and protecting Territory rights, and that he looked forward to the Government acting on this ahead of the next election.
“This is something that people of the ACT have been pushing for and that I was proud to campaign on at the last election and through the current Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters review of the last election.
“I also want to acknowledge the huge amount of work Professor Kim Rubenstein has done in advocating for greater Territory representation over many years.
“For too long, the ACT has suffered from underrepresentation and external interference. Now is the time to change that,” he said.
Professor Rubenstein said she was delighted to hear the news.
“I had this as one of my policies in my campaign for the Senate last year, and I think it is a really important change to our electoral system that is overdue.
“The ACT, in particular, has doubled in size, and the needs of the community require more representatives in the Senate. And, of course, Tasmania, which has an equivalent size of the ACT population, has 12 Senators. So an increase is certainly enhancing of ACT constituents’ democracy.”
Professor Rubenstein, a constitutional and citizenship law expert, said she was “more than happy to contribute to the discussion as it evolved”. She would consider standing again in 2025.
“I certainly have not ruled it out, let’s put it that way. Each election requires individuals to think of where they are at that particular time and the value-add that they might have to take into Parliament and to represent their constituency. So, I will reassess all those things at that time.”
