Each Federal Election Noosa residents cast their vote in the knowledge that it counts for less than it should.  The reason; we are jammed into the bottom of the electorate of Wide Bay – an area we have little in common with aside from a congested highway. Noosa is the piece of the political puzzle that doesn’t fit and many of our more progressive or independent voting booths find themselves politically miles away from the majority that dictates our fate up around Maryborough and Gympie.

What would it take to change the mish mash that currently constitutes the federal electorate of Wide Bay where Noosa is stuck as a kind of afterthought with its rural and regional cousins to its North and West?

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is scheduled to shortly undertake a redistribution of Queensland’s federal electorates and Noosa residents will soon have an opportunity to argue strongly to be incorporated in a federal electorate that more accurately reflects Noosa’s community of interests.

The AEC deferred the redistribution of Queensland’s federal electoral divisions until after the first meeting of the House of Representatives following this year’s federal election. With the first sitting of the new parliament having taken place on 22 July, this means the process of redrawing the boundaries will commence within 30 days of that first sitting.

While the federal electoral redistribution will not change the state’s entitlement to 30 members of the House of Representatives given the population changes since the last redistribution, it is most likely that boundaries will change to reflect population increases in the last eight years.

Of most interest to Noosa residents will be the extent to which the boundaries of the current electorates will need to be varied. This will depend on the extent to which the number of electors enrolled in each federal electoral division fall within the projected enrolment quotas. If the number of voters enrolled exceed or fall below the quota then boundaries will be adjusted to accommodate the new numbers.

As of 30 June 2025, Queensland’s electoral enrolments stood at 3,744, 823 which gives each electorate a projected enrolment quota of 124, 827 voters.

Current electoral enrolments show that several seats on the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Moreton Bay, and Ipswich areas are significantly above the likely quota while some rural and regional areas and parts of Brisbane are well below the possible quotas. 

The seats of Longman (which takes in part of the Sunshine Coast), Blair (part of Brisbane, Ipswich), Wright (part of the Gold Coast), Fisher (Sunshine Coast) and Fadden (part of the Gold Coast) will all need to have their boundaries adjusted. The seat of Fisher, in particular, which has seen considerable population growth due to the expansion of Aura (south Caloundra) is 11.66% above quota based on these figures. Where Fisher’s excess enrolments end up will be interesting and will likely have a domino effect on adjacent electorates.

Population changes confirm the continuing decline in population of some rural and regional electorates. Interestingly the electorates of Bonner, Moreton, Rankin, and Ryan (which all encompass parts of Brisbane) are all under quota as is the rural / regional electorate of Capricornia, which takes in parts of Mackay, Rockhampton, and the Whitsundays.

Wide Bay, with enrolments at 123,844, has hardly changed, which does not aurgur well for our chances of updating to an electorate of more common interests.

Juggling these changes will be a challenge for the electoral commission which has to consider;

• community of interests within the proposed electoral division including economic, social, and regional interests;
• the means of communication and travel within the proposed electoral division;
• the physical features and area of the proposed electoral division; and
• the existing boundaries of divisions in the state.

A federal electorate that better reflects the social, economic, and geographic profile of Noosa is clearly needed. The electoral redistribution process provides an opportunity for Noosa residents to argue strongly for an electorate that more accurately reflects Noosa’s community of interests.

Noosa residents are urged to take advantage of their opportunity to have a say, and that’s likely to be announced soon.  Noosa Matters will let our readers know when the AEC fires the starting gun for public participation.

(NOTE: The redistribution of Queensland’s federal electorate boundaries is not to be confused with the state electoral redistribution currently underway to adjust electorate boundaries based on population changes.

The last Queensland state redistribution was conducted in 2017, and the current process is underway to address population shifts since then.

The redistribution may lead to changes in the boundaries of state electorates on the Sunshine Coast).