| Bowen | |
| State: | qld |
| Lifespan: | 1873–1950, 1960–1971, 1986–1992 |
Bowen was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland from 1873 to 1950 and at various times until 1992.[1]
The electoral district of Bowen was established by the 1872 Electoral Districts Act.[1]
During the First McIlwraith Ministry, the seat of Bowen was occupied by three Attorneys-General: Henry Beor, Pope Alexander Cooper and Charles E. Chubb. Upon Beor's death, Cooper, who was not at that time in Parliament, was appointed Attorney-General and contested and won the resulting by-election. When he resigned, Chubb entered parliament in the same manner.
Bowen is the only state or federal electorate in Australia to elect a Communist member, Fred Paterson, who served as member for Bowen from the 1944 election until the 1950 election.
In a 1949 redistribution, Bowen was abolished, being split between the new electoral districts of Burdekin and Whitsunday.[1] It has been suggested that the redistribution was done deliberately to split Paterson's electoral support and prevent him from being returned to parliament in the 1950 election.[2] Paterson contested Whitsunday but was unsuccessful.[3]
From 1963 until 1971, member Peter Delamothe also served as Attorney-General.
Today, the electoral districts of Whitsunday and Burdekin comprise parts of the former Electoral district of Bowen.
| First incarnation (1873–1950) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Party | Term | |||
| Thomas Henry FitzGerald | 1873–1875 | ||||
| Francis Amhurst | 1875–1877 | ||||
| Henry Beor | Conservative | 1877–1880 | |||
| Pope Alexander Cooper | Conservative | 1881–1883 | |||
| Charles E. Chubb | Conservative | 1883–1888 | |||
| Robert Smith | Conservative | 1888–1890 | |||
| Ministerial | 1890–1902 | ||||
| Francis Kenna | Labor | 1902–1907 | |||
| Kidstonites | 1907–1908 | ||||
| Independent Opposition | 1908–1909 | ||||
| Myles Ferricks | Labor | 1909–1912 | |||
| Edwin Caine | Liberal | 1912–1915 | |||
| Charles Collins | Labor | 1915–1936 | |||
| Ernest Riordan | Labor | 1936–1944 | |||
| Fred Paterson | Communist | 1944–1950 | |||
| Second incarnation (1960–1971) | |||||
| Peter Delamothe | Liberal | 1960–1971 | |||
| Third incarnation (1986–1992) | |||||
| Ken Smyth | Labor | 1986–1992 | |||
See main article: Electoral results for the district of Bowen.