Created 1901 Electors 118,388 (2016) Founded 1901 Elector 118,388 | Demographic Rural Member of parliament Luke Hartsuyker Namesake Charles Cowper | |
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Area 7,296 km (2,817.0 sq mi) | ||
The Division of Cowper is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. The division was created in 1900 and was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. It is named for Charles Cowper, an early Premier of New South Wales.
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.
The Member for Cowper, since the 2001 election, is Luke Hartsuyker, a member of the National Party of Australia.
History
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. 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 fairly safe for that party, and became even more so when its more urbanised area (including Page's hometown of Grafton) was shifted to the newly created Division of Page in 1984.
As at the 2011 Australian census, residents within the Division of Cowper had the lowest level of median weekly household income.
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.