Your poll is biased.
You refer to "rural" electorates. I ask you is this rural:
http://goo.gl/maps/0zTsthis?
http://goo.gl/maps/natUMost people would say yes.
How about this:
http://goo.gl/maps/XY3aOr this?
http://goo.gl/maps/cBvpOr this?
http://goo.gl/maps/Js5hMore people will read this post than are in the three maps. These are not "rural" areas. These areas are "empty".
Canadians believe that citizens deserve accessibility of their MP. If one riding/district is the same physical size as an urban riding in NZ, and another is the same size as 20 NZ's then there is a clear problem in accessibility, especially if both have equal population bases. You will have a hard time finding Canadians to disagree with this.
On the flip side, Australians will agree with your viewpoint, despite having an equally empty country; because of gerrymandering - something that we've not seen here (outside a few choice ridings in parts of Quebec, provincially)
Poll
