The southern electorate should be called Namadgi, not Brindabella, according to a submission to the ACT Electoral Commission.
Andrew Tatnell, of Ainslie, pointed out that 75 per cent of the Brindabella Range was in NSW.
Many ACT residents suffered a misconception about the Brindabellas. Most of the ranges seen from the ACT were in fact the Tidbinbilla and Bimberi Ranges, he said. The Bimberi Ranges contained the ACT’s highest mountain, Mount Bimberi.
He thought Namadgi more appropriate for the southern electorate because Namadgi covered 45 per cent of the ACT and was located in the south.
It would also contribute to the Aboriginal theme, as suggested by the redistribution committee of the commission.
“The mountains of the ACT are made up of many different ranges,” he said. “Perhaps the most significant mountain is Mount Namadgi. It is likely to be very significant to Aboriginal people.
“This is indicated by the extensive stone arrangements built on the mountain which are clearly of Aboriginal origin. They have been described by Dr Josephine Flood and others and are still largely intact.”
The mountain had been pointed out by Aboriginal people to the surveyor John Lhotsky in 1834.
Mr Tatnell was one of only five of the ACT’s 300,000-odd residents who have objected to way the ACT was sliced into three seats by the ACT Electoral Committee.
Three of those objections were to the names: Ginninderra for the Belconnen-based seat, Molonglo for the centre and Brindabella for the Tuggeranong-based seat.
Tony Gay, of Red Hill, repeated his call for a seat to be named after Arthur Blakeley, the Minister for Home Affairs at the time of the founding of Canberra. He was supported by Carol Gilbert.
Two Chifley residents objected to their suburb and two other Woden suburbs, Pearce and Torrens, being included in Brindabella.
The committee, the major political parties and the independents all accepted that some part of Woden would inevitably be drawn into the southern electorate to make up the numbers for voter equality.
It is likely, however, that as Tuggeranong grows, the suburbs would return to the central seat in future redistributions. The committee rejected suggestions that Farrer, Isaacs and O’Malley go south, because Chifley-Torrens-Pearce formed a more discrete unit.
A public hearing on the objections will be held by the augmented ACT Electoral Commission at a date to be fixed. It is limited to those who made earlier submissions or objections. They can be heard at the hearing or can make written submissions by June 21.