Federal Labor frontbencher Mark Butler's seat is set to be abolished ahead of the next national election, but he looks unlikely to switch into a new seat nearby.
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SA will lose one seat in the redistribution, taking the number of House of Representatives electorates in the state to 10.
Many voters in Mr Butler's seat of Port Adelaide will move to his Labor colleague Nick Champion's seat of Wakefield, which will be renamed Spence.
Mr Butler said the Australian Electoral Commission's recommendation was still a draft, but he was "disappointed" at the proposal to abolish the seat he' has held since 2007.
"I will be looking at all my options as I continue to serve my community and as we await a final decision by the commission," Mr Butler said.
Mr Champion said he expects to be the only Labor candidate for preselection in Spence.
"Preselections are always spirited affairs but I think I've done a good job," he told reporters in Adelaide on Friday.
When asked what Mr Butler's future was, Mr Champion said the Labor party was famous for its maturity and "unity", and challenges would be overcome.
Former federal Labor minister Kate Ellis is retiring in the seat of Adelaide, but Mr Butler would have to do a factional deal to win preselection there.
The redistribution spares coalition frontbencher Christopher Pyne, who was tipped to lose his seat.
ABC election analyst Antony Green said Hindmarsh and Spence would become much safer for Labor, while Sturt had been "barely touched".
Hindmarsh would shift from being an ultra-marginal seat, held by a 0.6 per cent margin, to a safe Labor seat with a margin of around 8.2 per cent.
Labor's margin in Spence would be around 18 per cent.
Nick Xenophon Team MP Rebekha Sharkie's prospects of holding Mayo against a Labor or Liberal challenge would be more difficult under the new boundaries.
Electoral commissioner Tom Rogers said a seat had to be abolished, but nine of the 11 eleven seats had too many or too few voters.
The new seat is named after a prominent advocate for female suffrage and electoral reform, Catherine Helen Spence.
Objections can still be made against the proposed boundary changes, with the final redistributions announced by July.
Australian Associated Press
