The Buninyong state electorate will be renamed Eureka under a shuffle of Victoria electoral boundaries, despite the VEC previously proposing that the Wendouree electorate would undergo the name change.
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The Victorian Electoral Commission announced the new name, as well as a change in boundaries, on Thursday.
The Buninyong electorate, currently held by Michaela Settle, will be named Eureka for the 2022 state election, and will now cover less of Ballarat - it currently includes Sebastopol and Mount Pleasant, which will become part of the Wendouree electorate.
In June, it was announced the Wendouree electorate could be renamed Eureka - instead, Buninyong will be renamed.
The Courier will contact to the VEC to see why the name change was reversed.
FROM JUNE:
The new boundary follows the Yarrowee Creek from Brown Hill, and also takes in more of Ballarat East - put succinctly, pretty much everything south and east of Humffray Street will be in the Eureka electorate.
The Wendouree electorate, currently held by Juliana Addison, will take in Bonshaw to the south and an area further south-west towards Smythes Creek.
The new southern border will be Lacys Road.
Explore the electoral boundaries here.
To the north, the Ripon electorate, currently held by Louise Staley, will also expand, taking the Invermay and Mount Rowan area from Wendouree and again following the Yarrowee for its eastern border with Eureka.
Outside of the city, Ripon will also cover Smythesdale, taking the region from Linton to Napoleons from Eureka.
However, Eureka will significantly expand almost to Cressy, taking in Teesdale and Inverleigh to the south-west.
Eureka will also cover all of Bacchus Marsh.
Redivisions take place every two state elections to rebalance districts as populations change, and are based on the number of enrolled voters.
IN THE NEWS
According to the Electoral Boundaries Commission, an independent statutory agency, more than one million voters will have their electorate changed in 2022, even though their address has not changed.
"The EBC does not consider the political implications of the electoral boundaries in determining boundary changes," a media release states.
The new boundaries are final, and will take effect when the writ for the 2022 state election is issued.
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