Division of Cowper
The Division of Cowper is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales.
Cowper Australian House of Representatives Division | |
---|---|
![]() Division of Cowper in New South Wales, as of the 2016 federal election. | |
Created | 1901 |
MP | Pat Conaghan |
Party | Nationals |
Namesake | Sir Charles Cowper |
Electors | 124,507 (2019) |
Area | 7,296 km2 (2,817.0 sq mi) |
Demographic | Rural |
History
![](../I/Charlescowper.jpg.webp)
The division was created in 1900 and was one of the original 65 divisions contested at the first federal election. It is named after Sir Charles Cowper, an early Premier of New South Wales.[1]
Except for one brief break, the seat has been held by the National Party (previously known as the Country Party) and its predecessors since 1919.[1] Its most prominent member has been Sir Earle Page, former leader of the Country Party and interim Prime Minister of Australia in 1939. He represented Cowper from 1919 to 1961, longer than any other MP who represented one seat for his entire career. It has usually been a fairly safe National Party seat, and became more so when its more urbanised area (including Page's hometown of Grafton) was shifted to the newly created Division of Page in 1984.
The division is located on the north coast of New South Wales, and on its current boundaries takes in the towns of Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Kempsey, Macksville and Nambucca Heads.
In February 2016, New South Wales federal electoral districts were redistributed. The northern parts of Cowper, from Sapphire Beach to Red Rock were shifted to the division of Page. Since the 2019 election, the member for Cowper has been Pat Conaghan, representing the National Party of Australia.
Members
Election results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
National | Pat Conaghan | 49,668 | 47.07 | +1.10 | |
Independent | Rob Oakeshott | 25,847 | 24.49 | −1.80 | |
Labor | Andrew Woodward | 14,551 | 13.79 | +0.18 | |
Greens | Lauren Edwards | 6,264 | 5.94 | −0.73 | |
United Australia | Alexander Stewart | 3,188 | 3.02 | +3.02 | |
Christian Democrats | Ruth Meads | 2,383 | 2.26 | −1.16 | |
Animal Justice | Kellie Pearce | 2,176 | 2.06 | +2.06 | |
Independent | Allan Green | 1,451 | 1.37 | +1.37 | |
Total formal votes | 105,528 | 92.22 | −2.63 | ||
Informal votes | 8,898 | 7.78 | +2.63 | ||
Turnout | 114,426 | 92.03 | −0.20 | ||
Two-party-preferred result | |||||
National | Pat Conaghan | 65,302 | 61.88 | −0.70 | |
Labor | Andrew Woodward | 40,266 | 38.12 | +0.70 | |
Two-candidate-preferred result | |||||
National | Pat Conaghan | 59,932 | 56.79 | +2.23 | |
Independent | Rob Oakeshott | 45,596 | 43.21 | −2.23 | |
National hold | Swing | +2.23 |
References
- Profile of the Electoral Division of Cowper, Australian Electoral Commission, retrieved 9 May 2012
- Cowper, NSW, Tally Room 2019, Australian Electoral Commission.