What happened?
The Prime Minister has poured cold water over a plan to expand the federal parliament.
Special Minister of State Don Farrell has been pushing to grow the size of the House of Representatives (lower house), telling the National Press Club on Monday:
“Roughly every 40 years there’s been a re-evaluation of representation. Increasing the size of parliament is what great Labor leaders do.”
Growing pains
The Australian parliament was expanded twice, in 1948 and 1984, both times under a Labor government.
Since the 1980s, Australia’s population has risen from about 15.6 million people to an expected 28 million this year.
MPs have gone from representing roughly 66,000 voters per seat in 1984 to about 120,000 in 2026.
The cost
A 2024 Parliamentary Budget Office report said expanding parliament by 40 MPs - 16 new senators and 24 new lower house MPs - would cost an extra $596 million over seven years from the 2027–28 financial year.
The Nationals
Matt Canavan, whose party supported the last expansion of parliament in 1983, has opposed any changes.
This is despite analysis from Tally Room’s Ben Raue suggesting the Nationals could benefit from smaller rural electorates, where MPs would not have to travel as far to serve their constituents.
The Liberals
Sensing an opportunity to win a few votes by bashing politicians, Liberal leader Angus Taylor accused Labor of wanting to waste money during a cost of living crisis.
PM’s response
Responding in question time, Anthony Albanese said he was satisfied with the current number of seats in the House of Representatives, adding he was “very satisfied” with the make-up of the parliament:
“I have been very privileged to have the best campaign director I’ve ever seen in Paul Erickson,” the PM said. “If I were to say to Paul Erickson, ‘We’ve got 94 seats, but how about we throw it all up in the air and see how it lands?’, I reckon Paul Erickson would have a pretty clear response.”
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