Andrew Barr says doubling ACT representation in Senate may be ‘appropriate’ in light of census

Census data and the election of the Albanese government have given fresh impetus to a push to increase the territories’ Senate representation.

The Australian Capital Territory’s chief minister, Andrew Barr, told Guardian Australia a “modest increase” from two senators to four “may be appropriate” for the territories given the latest population data, released on Tuesday.

Since his election in May, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has stressed the importance of “one vote, one value” on several occasions, raising expectations that boosting the number of territory senators and mainland MPs could be part of a suite of reforms to be considered in a parliamentary inquiry into electoral law.

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The census data shows the ACT has a population of 454,499, compared with Tasmania’s 557,571. The ACT is represented by two senators, while all states including Tasmania are represented by 12.

In the House of Representatives, the ACT is represented by three MPs.

The Australian Electoral Commission has said that, under current electoral law, the ACT will not be entitled to more senators until its population reaches the level at which it would be eligible for six MPs.

Barr told Guardian Australia: “The ACT has been historically underrepresented in the federal parliament.”

“The latest population data absolutely confirms our three-seat House of Representatives entitlement,” he said.

“After nearly 50 years of Territory Senate representation, the number of Territory senators should be reviewed.”

All states are entitled to at least five MPs, even though Tasmania’s population would entitle it to just three.

Tasmanians’ votes therefore count more than other Australians’ in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

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Barr said the constitutional requirement for the number of MPs to be, “as nearly as practicable, twice the number of senators” means an increase in Territory senators “might also allow for a modest increase to the size of the House of Representatives to better reflect ‘one vote, one value’”.

David Smith, the MP for Bean in the ACT, said territory representation is “part of a bigger conversation: we haven’t had change to the size of the House of Representatives since 1984”.

“Back in 1984 the Canberra population was just under 270,000. We had two senators and two MPs then. We’re not quite double that, but our representation has only increased by one. The argument is starting to get stronger [for more parliamentarians].”

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Smith said it was a “tricky area” because Australians often oppose more politicians when polled on the question, but fewer constituents per electorate could help address “challenges around them not being represented as well as they could be”.

Albanese has twice endorsed the principle of “one vote, one value” since his election as prime minister.

In early June, he said “one vote, one value” was an “an important principle of our democracy” while discussing the low voter turnout in the Northern Territory.

On Sunday, Albanese said “we have one vote, one value in this country” while defending his decision to cut crossbenchers’ staffing allocation from eight to five to align it more closely with backbench government and opposition MPs, who receive four.

The territories minister, Kristy McBain, said the government had not discussed boosting territory representation “so far”.

“I think there are probably a range of issues that are more pressing than getting more ACT senators into the building,” she said.

“But, you know, I acknowledge that we have a number of small jurisdictions and their views and voices should be counted equally.”

According to psephologist, Ben Raue, the census data also reveals the AEC is likely to have to reverse a decision to boost Victoria’s representation by one federal seat and cut Western Australia’s by one.

The “one vote, one value” issue will be considered by the joint standing committee on electoral matters when they review the 2022 election.

In the committee’s review of the 2019 election, Labor members supported the introduction of laws governing truth in political advertising.

Albanese has also previously signalled he is open to capping political donations, arguing that such a measure is “common sense” because “democracy shouldn’t be for sale”.

The enormous electoral spending of the United Australia Party and the influence of the Climate 200 funding vehicle on independent campaigns is also expected to prompt consideration of spending caps.