| Federal: | yes |
| Cowper | |
| Created: | 1901 |
| Mp: | Pat Conaghan |
| Mp-Party: | Nationals |
| Namesake: | Sir Charles Cowper |
| Electors: | 129887 |
| Electors Year: | 2022 |
| Area: | 7296 |
| Class: | Rural and provincial |
| Near-N: | Page |
| Near-Ne: | Pacific Ocean |
| Near-Nw: | New England |
| Near-E: | Pacific Ocean |
| Near-W: | New England |
| Near-S: | Lyne |
| Near-Se: | Pacific Ocean |
| Near-Sw: | New England |
The Division of Cowper is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales.
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]
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.
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 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.
| Image | Member | Party | Term | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Francis Clarke | Protectionist | nowrap | 30 March 1901 – 16 December 1903 | Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Hastings and Macleay. Served as Chief Government Whip in the House under Deakin. Lost seat | |||
| Henry Lee | Free Trade | nowrap | 16 December 1903 – 1906 | Lost seat | |||
| nowrap | Anti-Socialist | nowrap | 1906 – 12 December 1906 | ||||
| John Thomson | Protectionist | nowrap | 12 December 1906 – 26 May 1909 | Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Manning. Served as Chief Government Whip in the House under Hughes. Lost seat | |||
| nowrap | Liberal | nowrap | 26 May 1909 – 17 February 1917 | ||||
| nowrap | Nationalist | nowrap | 17 February 1917 – 13 December 1919 | ||||
| (Sir) Earle Page | Farmers and Settlers' Association | nowrap | 13 December 1919 – 22 January 1920 | Served as minister under Bruce, Lyons, Menzies and Fadden. Served as Prime Minister in 1939. Lost seat | |||
| nowrap | Country | nowrap | 22 January 1920 – 9 December 1961 | ||||
| Frank McGuren | Labor | nowrap | 9 December 1961 – 30 November 1963 | Lost seat | |||
| Ian Robinson | Country | nowrap | 30 November 1963 – 2 May 1975 | Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Casino. Transferred to the Division of Page | |||
| National Country | nowrap | 2 May 1975 – 16 October 1982 | |||||
| Nationals | nowrap | 16 October 1982 – 1 December 1984 | |||||
| Garry Nehl | nowrap | 1 December 1984 – 8 October 2001 | Retired | ||||
| Luke Hartsuyker | nowrap | 10 November 2001 – 11 April 2019 | Served as minister under Turnbull. Retired | ||||
| Pat Conaghan | nowrap | 18 May 2019 – present | Incumbent |
See main article: Electoral results for the Division of Cowper.