Division of Bowman

Bowman
Australian House of Representatives Division
Bowman; Australian House of Representatives Division
	Map Interactive map of boundaries
Created	1949
MP	Henry Pike
Party	Liberal National
Namesake	David Bowman
Electors	115,764 (2022)
Area	536 km2 (207.0 sq mi)
Demographic	Outer metropolitan

The Division of Bowman is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland.

Geography[edit]

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]

History[edit]

The division was created in 1949 and is named for David Bowman, an early leader of the Australian Labor Party, in Queensland. The seat consists of the entirety of Redland City, located in the eastern suburbs of Brisbane, and includes the suburbs of Capalaba, Cleveland, Redland Bay, Birkdale, Thorneside, Alexandra Hills, Thornlands, Mount Cotton, Ormiston, Wellington Point and Victoria Point. The division also incorporates various islands of Moreton Bay including Coochiemudlo Island, the inhabited southern Bay Islands (Russell, Karragarra, Macleay and Lamb) and the big tourist destination of North Stradbroke Island.

It is generally a residential electorate with some crops, poultry, various light industries and tourism.

Bowman has traditionally been a highly marginal seat, regularly changing hands between the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal Party. Notably, the electorate has been won by the party with the largest national two party preferred vote at every election from 1954 to 2001 (except 1990). However, in the 2004 election, an energetic campaign by Dr Andrew Laming, and an electoral redistribution (due to the creation of the new Division of Bonner, leading veteran Bowman MP Con Sciacca to contest this new seat), saw Bowman returned to the Liberal Party by a significant margin (59.12% 2PP). The division was then considered by pollsters such as Antony Green to be a fairly safe Liberal seat.^{[citation needed]}

In the 2007 election, the electorate experienced a strong swing of 8.86% towards the Australian Labor Party; the incumbent Laming held the seat by 0.04%, or 64 votes. This made it second only to McEwen as the most marginal seat in the country, although the 2009 electoral redistribution in Queensland saw the margin notionally reduced further, to effectively 0.005%, making Bowman Australia's most marginal seat at the time.^[2] Laming went on to retain the seat comfortably for the Liberal National Party of Queensland in: 2010, regaining ground with a 9.51% swing towards him; 2013, despite a 6.35% swing against him; and 2016, when all parties saw a positive swing in Bowman (for the first time since 1955), due to the absence of a Palmer United Party candidate.

Members[edit]

Member	Party	Term	Notes
Malcolm McColm (1914–1966)	Liberal	10 December 1949 – 9 December 1961	Lost seat
Jack Comber (1919–1992)	Labor	9 December 1961 – 30 November 1963	Lost seat
Dr Wylie Gibbs (1922–)	Liberal	30 November 1963 – 25 October 1969	Lost seat
Len Keogh (1931–2007)	Labor	25 October 1969 – 13 December 1975	Lost seat
David Jull (1944–2011)	Liberal	13 December 1975 – 5 March 1983	Lost seat. Later elected to the Division of Fadden in 1984
Len Keogh (1931–2007)	Labor	5 March 1983 – 5 June 1987	Lost preselection and retired
Con Sciacca (1947–2017)	Labor	11 July 1987 – 2 March 1996	Served as minister under Keating. Lost seat
Andrea West (1952–2010)	Liberal	2 March 1996 – 3 October 1998	Lost seat
Con Sciacca (1947–2017)	Labor	3 October 1998 – 31 August 2004	Did not contest in 2004. Failed to win the Division of Bonner
Andrew Laming (1966–)	Liberal	9 October 2004 – 19 July 2010	Lost preselection and retired
Andrew Laming (1966–)	Liberal Nationals	19 July 2010 – 11 April 2022	Lost preselection and retired
Henry Pike (1987–)	Liberal Nationals	21 May 2022 – present	Incumbent

Election results[edit]

2022 Australian federal election: Bowman^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	Henry Pike	43,088	42.37	−6.30
	Labor	Donisha Duff	29,694	29.20	+2.61
	Greens	Ian Mazlin	13,241	13.02	+1.03
	One Nation	Walter Todd	7,825	7.69	+0.39
	United Australia	Mary-Jane Stevens	6,601	6.49	+2.89
	TNL	Phil Johnson	1,243	1.22	+1.22
Total formal votes			101,692	97.09	+0.49
Informal votes			3,045	2.91	−0.49
Turnout			104,737	90.51	−2.53
Two-party-preferred result
	Liberal National	Henry Pike	56,447	55.51	−4.73
	Labor	Donisha Duff	45,245	44.49	+4.73
	Liberal National hold		Swing	−4.73

References[edit]

^ Muller, Damon (14 November 2017). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
^ Hurst, Brian: Time is running out in ALP in Bowman Archived 15 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Bayside Bulletin, 1 February 2010.
^ Bowman, QLD, 2022 Tally Room, Australian Electoral Commission.

External links[edit]

Division of Bowman (Qld) — Australian Electoral Commission

27°34′48″S 153°14′31″E / 27.580°S 153.242°E / -27.580; 153.242

[1] Muller, Damon (14 November 2017). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2022.

[2] Hurst, Brian: Time is running out in ALP in Bowman Archived 15 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Bayside Bulletin, 1 February 2010.

[3] Bowman, QLD, 2022 Tally Room, Australian Electoral Commission.

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