Division of Cowan

The Division of Cowan is an Australian Electoral Division in Western Australia.

Cowan
Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Cowan in Western Australia, as of the 2021 redistribution.
Created1984
MPAnne Aly
PartyLabor
NamesakeEdith Cowan
Electors98,668 (2019)
Area180 km2 (69.5 sq mi)
DemographicOuter metropolitan

History
Edith Cowan, the division's namesake

The division was created in 1984 and is named for Edith Cowan, the first woman elected to an Australian Parliament. It is located in the northern suburbs of Perth, including the suburbs of Girrawheen, Greenwood, Landsdale and Marangaroo.

It is a marginal seat, changing hands between the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal Party. Unlike most marginal seats in the east, Cowan is not normally a barometer for winning government, since elections have usually long since been decided by the time counting begins in the west. For this reason, all but one of its members has served at least one term in opposition.

For example, at the 2007 election, the retirement of sitting member Graham Edwards resulted in Labor losing the seat to his Liberal challenger from 2004, Luke Simpkins, even as Labor ended 11 years of Coalition rule. Simpkins retained Cowan by defeating Labor candidate Liz Prime and retained the seat at the 2010 and 2013 elections. A redistribution in 2015 saw Cowan undergo a significant boundary change which saw the Liberal margin drop from a fairly safe 7.5% to a marginal 4.5%. The redistribution saw Labor target the seat at the upcoming 2016 election. At that election the Labor candidate, Anne Aly, became the first Muslim woman elected to the House of Representatives by narrowly defeating Simpkins. Aly retained the seat almost as narrowly in 2019.

Geography

Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian 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.[1]

Cowan covers an area from Tapping and Wanneroo in the north to Kiara and Lockridge in the south. The division covers parts of the City of Wanneroo and the City of Swan and a minor portion of the City of Joondalup. It includes the suburbs of:[2]

In August 2021, the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) announced that the Wanneroo suburbs of Ashby, Darch, Gnangara, Hocking, Jandabup, Landsdale, Madeley, Pearsall, Sinagra, Tapping, Wangara and Wanneroo and the Swan suburbs of Cullacabardee and a small part of Ballajura would be transferred from Cowan to the seat of Pearce, while the Swan suburbs of Bennett Springs and Whiteman would be transferred to the seat of Hasluck and Cowan's portion of Kingsley would be transferred to the seat of Moore. However, Cowan would gain the Stirling suburbs of Balcatta, Balga, Dianella, Hamersley, Mirrabooka, Nollamara, Stirling, Westminster and part of Osborne Park, along with the Bayswater suburbs of Noranda and part of Morley, from the abolished seat of Stirling. These boundary changes will take place as of the next Australian federal election.[3]

Members
Image Member Party Term Notes
  Carolyn Jakobsen
(1947–)		 Labor 1 December 1984 –
13 March 1993		 Lost seat
  Richard Evans
(1953–)		 Liberal 13 March 1993 –
3 October 1998		 Lost seat
  Graham Edwards
(1946–)		 Labor 3 October 1998 –
17 October 2007		 Previously a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council. Retired. Last veteran of the Vietnam War to serve in the House of Representatives
  Luke Simpkins
(1964–)		 Liberal 24 November 2007 –
2 July 2016		 Lost seat
  Anne Aly
(1967–)		 Labor 2 July 2016 –
present		 Incumbent

Election results
Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Cowan
This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2019 Australian federal election in Western Australia § Cowan.[edit]
2019 Australian federal election: Cowan[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Isaac Stewart 33,438 39.41 −2.81
Labor Anne Aly 32,353 38.13 −3.55
Greens Mark Cooper 8,551 10.08 +2.48
One Nation Sheila Mundy 4,777 5.63 +5.63
United Australia Peter Westcott 2,171 2.56 +2.56
Christians Andre Lebrasse 1,981 2.33 −0.96
Shooters, Fishers, Farmers Paul Bedford 1,582 1.86 −0.95
Total formal votes 84,853 94.59 +0.06
Informal votes 4,850 5.41 −0.06
Turnout 89,703 90.91 +1.31
Two-party-preferred result
Labor Anne Aly 43,135 50.83 +0.15
Liberal Isaac Stewart 41,718 49.17 −0.15
Labor hold Swing+0.15
Primary vote results in Cowan (Parties that did not get 5% of the vote are omitted)
  Labor
  Liberal
  Greens
  Australian Democrats
  One Nation
  Palmer United/United Australia Party
Two-candidate-preferred results in Cowan

References
  1. Muller, Damon (14 November 2017). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  2. "Profile of the electoral division of Cowan (WA)". Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  3. https://www.aec.gov.au/Electorates/Redistributions/2021/wa/files/redistribution-of-western-australia-into-electoral-divisions-august-2021.pdf
  4. Cowan, WA, Tally Room 2019, Australian Electoral Commission.

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