Division of Bowman

The Division of Bowman is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. The current MP is Henry Pike of the Liberal Party.

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Bowman’s boundaries are largely consistent with those of Redland City, including Cleveland and North Stradbroke Island.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

History

File:StateLibQld 1 51912 The Honourable David Bowman.jpg

David Bowman, the division's namesake

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.

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.<ref>Hurst, Brian: Time is running out in ALP in Bowman Template:Webarchive, Bayside Bulletin, 1 February 2010.</ref> 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

	Image	Member	Party	Term	Notes
Template:Australian party style|	File:MalcolmMcColm1956.jpg	Malcolm McColm Template:Small	Liberal	10 December 1949 – 9 December 1961	Lost seat
Template:Australian party style|	File:JackComber1962.jpg	Jack Comber Template:Small	Labor	9 December 1961 – 30 November 1963	Lost seat
Template:Australian party style|	File:Wylie Gibbs 1964 (cropped).jpg	Wylie Gibbs Template:Small	Liberal	30 November 1963 – 25 October 1969	Lost seat
Template:Australian party style|	File:Len Keogh 1970.png	Len Keogh Template:Small	Labor	25 October 1969 – 13 December 1975	Lost seat
Template:Australian party style|	File:Liberal Placeholder.png	David Jull Template:Small	Liberal	13 December 1975 – 5 March 1983	Lost seat. Later elected to the Division of Fadden in 1984
Template:Australian party style|	File:Len Keogh 1970.png	Len Keogh Template:Small	Labor	5 March 1983 – 5 June 1987	Lost preselection and retired
Template:Australian party style|	File:Second Keating Cabinet 1994 (cropped Sciacca).jpg	Con Sciacca Template:Small		11 July 1987 – 2 March 1996	Served as minister under Keating. Lost seat
Template:Australian party style|	File:Liberal Placeholder.png	Andrea West Template:Small	Liberal	2 March 1996 – 3 October 1998	Lost seat
Template:Australian party style|	File:Second Keating Cabinet 1994 (cropped Sciacca).jpg	Con Sciacca Template:Small	Labor	3 October 1998 – 31 August 2004	Did not contest in 2004. Failed to win the Division of Bonner
Template:Australian party style|	File:Andrew Laming MP crop 2007.jpg	Andrew Laming Template:Small	LiberalTemplate:Efn	9 October 2004 – 11 April 2022	Lost preselection and retired
Template:Australian party style|	File:LNP Placeholder.png	Henry PikeTemplate:Efn		21 May 2022 – present	Incumbent

Election results

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External links

• Division of Bowman (Qld) — Australian Electoral Commission