'Gut-wrenching': Taylor reacts to electoral boundary redistribution

However the sitting Liberal MP of the past 11 years said he would maintain his Goulburn property and connection with the city even if he were elected to the new Hume electorate.

Mr Taylor said he was disappointed by the Redistribution Committee's proposal to shift the seat north, taking in parts of Camden, Wollondilly, Penrith and Liverpool council areas. The committee announced its plan on Friday, June 14. A final determination will be made in October, following further feedback.

The committee is also proposing to shift Goulburn Mulwaree into Eden Monaro, and Upper Lachlan Shire and Boorowa to the Riverina electorate. The Southern Highlands would move to Whitlam.

Mr Taylor said the boundaries weren't final and if a federal election was to be held beforehand, the old Hume boundaries would apply.

"There are some wonderful new areas proposed for Hume around the Camden local government area and I always look forward to representing them," he said.

"(But) it's gut wrenching to lose communities from your electorate that you've served and loved and in this case, lived. I experienced that in 2016 and I'm seeing it again now.

"It's a radical redistribution but the Australian Electoral Commission makes its decision. It's gut wrenching that the place where I live and where my kids went to school and I love (will be lost)."

Mr Taylor said he'd put his heart and soul into representing the area and he was proud of his achievements, including around Goulburn which had secured infrastructure funding.

The MP said he planned to contest the redistributed Hume seat, pending Liberal Party pre-selection. However he told The Post that while he'd have a more significant presence there, he would continue farming in the Goulburn region and retain his property.

"My connection to Goulburn won't disappear and I'll continue to treasure that," he said.

"It's a magnificent community and is representative of Australia in so many ways...It will remain a special place in my heart and I'll continue to be around a fair bit."

While the revised Hume decreases in area from 17,240 square kilometres currently to 2,674sqkm, it is based on projected population growth of 12,555 to 138,104 by July, 2028.

The Liberal Party suggested a different approach in its submission to Redistribution Committee. It proposed Hume be redrawn "with a more provincial character," adding Yass, Harden, Young and Cowra. Yass and Lake Bathurst would also move from Eden Monaro into Hume. Effectively, the electorate would move west.

The party also suggested formation of a new seat - Bird Walton - to take account of population around the second Sydney airport.

Labor suggested some voter transfers to Macarthur electorate in the north but largely kept Hume focused on the Southern Tablelands and Highlands and bordering the outer Sydney population growth areas.

Mr Taylor said his margin would remain about the same, at seven per cent, under the changes, but he wasn't focusing on this.

The Liberal party will lodge a submission on the proposed change, with Mr Taylor's input.

The party pre-selected Cooma local and lawyer, Joanne Van Der Platt last December to run for Eden Monaro. The revised electorate resembles the 1970s boundary, when Goulburn was part of the seat. Goulburn Labor is understood to be pleased with the proposal.

Labor's Kristy McBain is the sitting MP.

Pollster, William Bowe, put the revised Eden Monaro at 56.2 to Labor and 43.8 to the Liberals on a two-party preferred basis.

Mr Taylor said Goulburn could be well served in Eden Monaro and he'd be doing everything he could to support Ms Van Der Platt.

"It's an area that's really realising its potential...and I want to see that continue. I'll fight hard to ensure it does," he said.

Hume was also redistributed in 2016. At that time Weddin, Grenfell, Cowra, Cootamundra, Young, Harden was lost but it gained part of Camden and the remainder of Wollondilly Shire.

Mr Taylor was handpicked by the late Hume MP, Alby Schultz, to replace him in Hume and he won the subsequent pre-selection.

Goulburn MP Wendy Tuckerman said the redistribution "is what it is" and she'd await the final determination.

"I know Goulburn going into the Eden-Monaro electorate will be different for Goulburn but it's about making sure we can get the most out of what we can in regards to that," she said.

"I know we have a good candidate who's been pre-selected to run for the federal election and I'll be supporting her all the way."

Asked whether it was a good fit for the region, Mrs Tuckerman said it was interesting that Yass and Upper Lachlan were proposed to shift into Riverina. She believed it would be a huge electorate to manage but she would wait and see how the changes affected the region.