Aussie Politics: Stuck in Time, Big Electorates Persist

0:00It's March 31st. This is Sydney News today, local news powered by AI. Australia's parliament is stuck in a time warp, folks. The number of MPs hasn't budged since Bob Hawks era in the 1980s, leaving each lower house member to represent over 100, 77,000 people way up from 105,000 back then. That's some of the biggest electorates on the planet, making it tough for politicians to actually connect with voters. Andrews Don Farrell was pushing hard to add dozens more seats, arguing it would shrink electorates so MPs could hit more schools and clubs, build, extra offices for growing services, and stock cabinets with real talent instead of duds. Even think tanks from the right-wing Institute of Public Affairs to left-leaning Australia Institute backed it, along with some liberal shadows, quietly on board. But opposition leader Angus Taylor slammed the brakes Tuesday, blasting it as tone-deaf amid the cost of living and fuel crunch. He rallied his coalition, including gnats who flipped after initially supporting smaller

1:01regional seats, framing it as Canberra power grab like the voice debate. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, already wary of redrawing boundaries that can mess with his big majority in candidate picks, caved under question, time pressure, and shut the whole idea down. Farrell's pitch now looks shaky after his recent hype. In the end, this bipartisan dodge leaves Aussies with bloated electorates in no reform, just short-term political jabs while real fixes gather dust.