Will Cox get the chop?
ALTERNATIVE names for the controversial new Cox electorate have been suggested following a slew of double entendres on social media.
Five replacement monikers have been suggested to the Geelong Advertiser — Barwon-Otway, Austin, Street, Kirner and Harrison — as being more reflective of the potential constituency’s heritage.
The Australian Electoral Commission released the draft boundaries for Victoria’s federal electorates last week with the existing Corangamite set to be abolished.
The Colac portion of the electorate is set to be fused to Wannon while a chunk of Geelong’s southern suburbs is set to be connected to Corio.
Corangamite’s rump — encompassing Portarlington in the north, Queenscliff in the east, Winchelsea in the west and Apollo Bay in the south — is set to be rebranded as Cox.
The two likely contenders to be the first “Member for Cox” — Liberal MP Sarah Henderson and Labor candidate Libby Coker — have conveyed misgivings about the name due to its double entendre potential.
The AEC chose the electorate name for May Cox, a physical education pioneer who never lived in the region but hosted swimming carnivals in Queenscliff in the early 1900s.
Barwon-Otway broadly describes the new AEC region labelled Cox, in that it covers districts in the north and east of the electorate around the Barwon River as well as most of the Otway Ranges in the south.
The AEC has pressed for more female historical figures to be represented in the redistribution and two figures have been canvassed: Austin and Kirner.
Winchelsea pioneer Elizabeth Austin lived at the heart of the electorate and was a noted philanthropist for the region’s needy in the late 1880s.
Like May Cox, former Labor leader Joan Kirner has little connection to the region, but a number of submissions called for Victoria’s first female premier to be recognised with a federal electorate in her home state.
A suggestion from the Coalition side is Street for Geoffrey Street, a Gallipoli hero who was Corangamite’s MP between 1934 and 1940.
His son Tony Street, now 92, was Foreign Minister in the Fraser government and also served as Corangamite’s man in Canberra from 1966 to 1984.
Geelong Advertiser founder James Harrison is also a contender but his legacy is more associated with the area now covered by the Corio electorate.
Deakin University politics expert Geoff Robinson said out of all the names canvassed, Austin was the most promising given it had both a local connection and recognised a female historical figure.
“There have been times when the AEC have issued new electorate names and they’ve gone back to the drawing board but it happens only occasionally,” Dr Robinson said.
“The AEC have also trended away from geographic names, so that makes Barwon-Otway or a variant less likely. Austin recognises both a female historical figure and has a stronger local connection than Cox, so there’s some potential there.”
He said concern over the double entendres on social media would do little to sway the AEC.
“An example over naming concerns I can think of is the opposition to naming an electorate after the industrialist Thomas Mort. Some considered the name Mort too gloomy but that was dismissed (by the AEC), so I doubt they’ll take the Cox jokes into consideration,” he said.
Ms Henderson has a campaign under way to retain the Corangamite name, with the AEC objections period set to end on May 4.
The Corangamite electorate has existed since Federation but the AEC opted for a name change given Lake Corangamite will no longer form part of the new constituency.
However, Werriwa in Sydney’s southwest was named for a lake near Canberra but over time has moved from than 200km from its namesake.