- Division of Bowman
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Bowman
Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Bowman (green) within QueenslandCreated: 1949 MP: Andrew Laming Party: Liberal National Namesake: David Bowman Area: 537 km² (207 sq mi) Demographic: Outer Metropolitan The Division of Bowman is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. The division was created in 1949 and is named for David Bowman, an early leader of the Australian Labor Party, in Queensland. The seat is located in the eastern suburbs of Brisbane, and currently includes the suburbs of Capalaba, Cleveland, Redland Bay, Birkdale, Thorneside, Alexandra Hills, Thornlands, Mount Cotton, Cornubia, Ormiston, Wellington Point and Victoria Point. The division also incorporates various islands of Moreton Bay including Coochiemudlo the inhabited southern Bay Islands (Russell, Karragarra, Macleay and Lamb) as well as the big tourist destination of North Stradbroke.
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 Federal Election, an energetic campaign by Dr Andrew Laming, and an electoral redistribution (due to the creation of the new Division of Bonner), saw Bowman returned to the Liberal Party by a significant margin (59.12% two party preferred) and the division was then considered by pollsters such as Antony Green to be a fairly safe Liberal seat.
In the 2007 Federal Election the electorate experienced a strong swing of 8.86% towards the Australian Labor Party. Incumbent Liberal MP Andrew Laming held the seat by 0.04%, or 64 votes. Following the 2007 election, it was second only to McEwen as the most marginal seat in the country, although the 2009 electoral redistribution in Queensland saw the margin notionally reduced even further to effectively 0.005%, making Bowman the most marginal seat in the country.[1]
Members
Member Party Term Malcolm McColm Liberal 1949–1961 Jack Comber Labor 1961–1963 Wylie Gibbs Liberal 1963–1969 Leonard Keogh Labor 1969–1975 David Jull Liberal 1975–1983 Leonard Keogh Labor 1983–1987 Con Sciacca Labor 1987–1996 Andrea West Liberal 1996–1998 Con Sciacca Labor 1998–2004 Andrew Laming Liberal 2004–2010 Liberal National 2010–present Election results
Main article: Electoral results for the Division of BowmanAustralian federal election, 2010: Bowman Party Candidate Votes % ±% Liberal National Andrew Laming 45,585 55.63 +9.51 Labor Jenny Peters 24,719 30.17 -13.97 Greens David Keogh 8,174 9.97 +4.51 Family First Karina Windolf 1,834 2.24 -0.70 One Nation Dave Chidgey 865 1.06 +0.53 Democratic Labor John Kent 768 0.94 +0.94 Total formal votes 81,945 94.61 -2.01 Informal votes 4,672 5.39 +2.01 Turnout 86,617 94.26 -0.98 Two-candidate preferred result Liberal National Andrew Laming 49,490 60.39 +10.39 Labor Jenny Peters 32,455 39.61 -10.39 Liberal National hold Swing +10.39 References
- ^ Hurst, Brian: Time is running out in ALP in Bowman, Bayside Bulletin, 1 February 2010.
Electoral divisions of the Australian House of Representatives in Queensland Blair · Bonner · Bowman · Brisbane · Capricornia · Dawson · Dickson · Fadden · Fairfax · Fisher · Flynn · Forde · Griffith · Groom · Herbert · Hinkler · Kennedy · Leichhardt · Lilley · Longman · Maranoa · McPherson · Moncrieff · Moreton · Oxley · Petrie · Rankin · Ryan · Wide Bay · Wright
Abolished: Darling Downs · Oxley (1901-34)
Divisions in: New South Wales · Victoria · Queensland · Western Australia · South Australia · Tasmania · Australian Capital and Northern Territories Categories:- Electoral divisions of Australia
- Federal politics in Queensland
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