| Cowper AustralianHouse of RepresentativesDivision | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  Interactive map of electorate boundaries from the2025 federal election | |||||||||||||||
| Created | 1901 | ||||||||||||||
| MP | Pat Conaghan | ||||||||||||||
| Party | Nationals | ||||||||||||||
| Namesake | Sir Charles Cowper | ||||||||||||||
| Electors | 131,719 (2025) | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 7,271 km2 (2,807.3 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Demographic | Provincial | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
TheDivision of Cowper is anAustralian electoral division in thestate ofNew South Wales. It stretches along the coast comprising the cities ofPort Macquarie andCoffs Harbour.
Since 2019, itsMP has beenPat Conaghan of theNational Party.
Cowper is located on theMid North Coast of New South Wales. It includes the local government areas ofKempsey,Nambucca Valley andBellingen, along with most of theCity of Coffs Harbour, includingCoffs Harbour and the towns and localities ofBoambee,Bonville,Crossmaglen,Karangi,Lowanna,Sawtell,Toormina,Ulong and Upper Orara.[1]
Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by theAustralian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.[2]
The division was created in 1900 and was one of theoriginal 65 divisions contested at thefirst federal election. It is named afterSir Charles Cowper, an earlyPremier of New South Wales.[3]
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.[3] Its most prominent member has beenSir Earle Page, former leader of the Country Party and interimPrime 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 ofGrafton) was shifted to the newly createdDivision of Page in 1984.
The division is located on thenorth coast of New South Wales, and on its current boundaries takes in the towns ofCoffs Harbour,Port Macquarie,Kempsey,Macksville andNambucca 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 the2019 election, the member for Cowper has beenPat Conaghan, representing theNational Party of Australia.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National | Pat Conaghan | 40,836 | 37.90 | −1.62 | |
| Independent | Caz Heise | 31,616 | 29.35 | +3.18 | |
| Labor | Greg Vigors | 12,713 | 11.80 | −2.20 | |
| One Nation | Chris Walsh | 6,856 | 6.36 | −1.81 | |
| Legalise Cannabis | Megan Mathew | 5,210 | 4.84 | +4.84 | |
| Greens | Wendy Firefly | 4,552 | 4.23 | −1.62 | |
| Family First | Peter Jackel | 1,851 | 1.72 | +1.72 | |
| Trumpet of Patriots | Geoffrey Shannon | 1,551 | 1.44 | +1.44 | |
| Libertarian | Paul Templeton | 1,403 | 1.30 | −2.58 | |
| Independent | Zeke Daley | 892 | 0.83 | +0.83 | |
| Fusion | Geoffrey Marlow | 255 | 0.24 | +0.24 | |
| Total formal votes | 107,735 | 90.08 | −4.99 | ||
| Informal votes | 11,864 | 9.92 | +4.99 | ||
| Turnout | 119,599 | 90.85 | +2.18 | ||
| Notionaltwo-party-preferred count | |||||
| National | Pat Conaghan | 63,646 | 59.08 | −0.45 | |
| Labor | Greg Vigors | 44,089 | 40.92 | +0.45 | |
| Two-candidate-preferred result | |||||
| National | Pat Conaghan | 56,609 | 52.54 | +0.14 | |
| Independent | Caz Heise | 51,126 | 47.46 | −0.14 | |
| Nationalhold | Swing | +0.14 | |||
30°23′02″S152°52′12″E / 30.384°S 152.870°E /-30.384; 152.870
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