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Senior Andrews government minister Martin Pakula.Credit:Joe Armao

The electorates of Altona,Buninyong,Burwood,Ferntree Gully,Forest Hill,Gembrook,Keysborough,Mount Waverley and Yuroke have been wiped off the electoral map. Those seats will be replaced or absorbed by the electorates of Ashwood,Berwick,Eureka,Glen Waverley,Greenvale,Kalkallo,Laverton,Pakenham and Point Cook.

Campaign strategists from both the major parties believe the changes will slightly benefit Labor due to the creation of several new seats in the city’s booming outer fringes,where the ALP traditionally has stronger support.

“It makes it harder for the Liberals to win the next election but given them a few opportunities in the east to claw back losses. For them,this should be a two-election strategy,"one Labor strategist said.

Under the new map,Melbourne’s east – traditionally a Liberal Party stronghold – will lose a handful of seats impacting the Coalition,but the opposition remains hopeful it will still be able to win back the seats of Ringwood,Bayswater and Hawthorn which it lost in 2018.

In a boost for the Coalition,former MP John Pesutto,who lost the seat of Hawthorn at the 2018 election,confirmed on ABC Melbourne radio on Thursday that he will stand for preselection to recontest the seat.

But Labor holds fears for the future of Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes,linked to the Australian Workers Union,who is in an unwinnable position on the Northern Victoria Region ticket and would need to be accommodated elsewhere in the upper house to keep her ministerial position.

A boundary adjustment in the rural seat of Ripon will likely make it harder for another senior woman,shadow transport minister Louise Staley,to hold her marginal seat which she won by just 15 votes in 2018.

Ripon will lose the farming towns of Charlton,Donald and Stawell and take in more of Ballarat where voters have traditionally supported Labor. Ms Staley said she would continue to “work hard and hopefully,they vote for me”.

Ripon MP Louise Staley.Credit: Jason South

The Coalition remains optimistic about its chances in the regional seat of Mildura,which fell to independent Ali Cupper in 2018,with the new boundary absorbing the regional town of Donald.

With the abolition of Keysborough,Mr Pakula,the state minister for major events,trade,tourism,racing and sport,is considered the highest-profile casualty of the redistribution.

Given his seniority,Mr Pakula would probably be offered a different seat if he chooses to contest the next election after first entering Parliament in 2006 as a member of the upper house.

“I’m disappointed that the Keysborough electorate has been abolished,but I’ll now commence discussions with colleagues about finding an alternative electorate,and continuing the important work of reinvigorating business,tourism,our events sector,the racing industry and international trade,” he said in a statement.

The redrawing of the state's electorates is also expected to help the Greens retain the seat of Brunswick and Prahran after hundreds of voters in Toorak and St Kilda East were moved to new seats.

The changes,confirmed after the commission considered 152 submissions to its draft proposal,will come into effect at the November 2022 poll.

Electoral commissioner Warwick Gately said the redistributions ensured fair representation and an equal voice for all voters.

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