27/03/2026
The electorate of Grey â which is larger than New South Wales â may be renamed OâDonoghue under new boundary changes, the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) announced today.
The new name would honour renowned Aboriginal leader Dr Lowitja OâDonoghue, who died in 2024.
Her accolades included being the first Indigenous nurse at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, being integral to negotiations that led to federal native title legislation and being the first Indigenous Australian to address the United Nations General Assembly.
The AECâs Redistribution Committee recommended the change and said the renaming was âappropriateâ due to OâDonoghueâs âstrong connection to the APY Lands which are largely located in the electorate of Greyâ.
The proposal was spurred by an anonymous submission to the AECâs boundary changes consultation, which was supported by five out of nine submissions. The AEC is currently open for public consultation about the suggested changes.
Deb Edwards, OâDonoghueâs niece and head of the Lowitja OâDonoghue Foundation, said the Foundation and OâDonoghue family did not make the suggestion, but were approached for approval.
âItâs a pretty incredible honour and I thought that it was appropriate because the electorate of Grey is so huge, Lowitja had a lot to do with all of that area,â Edwards told InDaily.
âThatâs her country. She was born on APY Lands, but she lived and worked up there for so long.â
OâDonoghue will also be honoured with a life-size statue designed by acclaimed sculptor Robert Hannaford at the Tarntanya Wama/Elder Park walkway in mid-2026.
The current electorate of Grey was named in 1903 for colonial explorer Sir George Grey who was governor of South Australia in 1840.
In 1844, Grey amended a law that was known as the Aboriginal Witnesses Act to stipulate that unsworn testimony given by Indigenous Australians would be inadmissible in court.
He was also the governor in New Zealand in 1845 when war broke out between the MÄori people and British settlers.
âThe Redistribution Committee acknowledges the contribution Sir Grey made to establishing the colony of South Australia and that the electorate name has been in use for over 100 years,â the Committee report said.
âHowever, the Committee noted that Sir Grey was born and died overseas with limited connection and contribution to Australia.â
South Australia has only two federal electorates named after women and does not have any federal electorates named for an Indigenous person or word, the report said.
âWhile these considerations were not, in and of themselves, deciding factors, the Committee considered that honouring the significant contribution Dr OâDonoghueâs life and work made to the country, and the number of submissions advocating use of her name, provided strong reason to rename an electorate,â the report said.
The new proposed electorate of OâDonoghue would also add part of the Playford council area to its roughly 908,000 square kilometres from the neighbouring electorate of Spence.
read more at : https://www.indailysa.com.au/news/just-in/2026/03/27/new-name-touted-for-sas-largest-electorate
