Member for Lowan Emma Kealy has welcomed the announcement that Stawell and Great Western will enter the Lowan electorate at the end of next year.
The Electoral Boundaries Commission has finalised Victoria’s new electoral boundaries, which will see an extra 2676 square kilometres and about 9000 voters added to Lowan on November 1, 2022, ahead of next year’s State Election on November 26.
Ms Kealy said the decision to add Stawell and Great Western, along with Mortlake, was expected given the commission proposed the changes earlier this year.
“I extend a warm welcome to these communities, and can’t wait to spend more time in these towns and get to know the constituents,” she said.
“Lowan already includes part of Northern Grampians Shire, and the addition of Stawell and Great Western makes sense given regional connectivity with other communities already in the electorate.
“Stawell and Great Western have also been part of Lowan in the past, and both these communities share many similarities with other Grampians towns already in Lowan.”
Ms Kealy will visit Great Western on Monday, November 1 and Stawell on Thursday, November 4 to give residents an opportunity to meet her and share their ideas.
“I would love to speak with as many people as possible about what’s working, what’s not, and what they are proud of, and also hear residents’ thoughts on how we can make Stawell and Great Western even better places to live, work, learn and do business,” she said.
“I’ll be visiting as many businesses and organisations as I can, and welcome anyone to come up and say hello and have a chat. I am very much looking forward to spending time in these communities and getting to know people.”
The boundary changes mean Lowan will remain the largest electorate geographically in the state, covering almost 20 per cent of Victoria.
Ms Kealy said though the electorate’s population had not declined, other areas of the state were growing at a faster rate, and the redistribution was designed to keep each electorate’s population within 10 per cent of the average.