The Division of Bowman is an
Australian Electoral Division in
Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
. The current MP is
Henry Pike
Henry Jon Pike (born 16 October 1987) is an Australian politician who is a member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Bowman, Queensland, for the Liberal National Party of Queensland from 2022. He sits with the Liberal ...
of the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world.
The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...
.
Geography
Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the
Australian Electoral Commission
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is the independent statutory agency of the Australian Government responsible for the management and oversight of Australian federal elections, plebiscites, referendums and some trade union
A ...
. 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.
Bowman’s boundaries are largely consistent with those of
Redland City
Redland City, also known as the Redlands and formerly known as Redland Shire, is a Local government in Australia, local government area (LGA) and a part of Brisbane, Greater Brisbane in South East Queensland, Australia. With a population of 159 ...
, including
Cleveland
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
and
North Stradbroke Island
North Stradbroke Island (Janday language, Jandai: ''Minjerribah''), colloquially ''Straddie'' or ''North Straddie'', is an island that lies within Moreton Bay in the Australian state of Queensland, southeast of the centre of Brisbane. Original ...
.
History

The division was created in 1949 and is named for
David Bowman, an early leader of the
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...
, in Queensland. The seat consists of the entirety of
Redland City
Redland City, also known as the Redlands and formerly known as Redland Shire, is a Local government in Australia, local government area (LGA) and a part of Brisbane, Greater Brisbane in South East Queensland, Australia. With a population of 159 ...
, located in the eastern suburbs of
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
, and includes the suburbs of
Capalaba
Capalaba ( ) is an urban locality in the City of Redland, Queensland, Australia. In the , Capalaba had a population of 18,002 people.
Geography
The suburb has large shopping and commercial centres with two malls and a major bus station, as wel ...
,
Cleveland
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
,
Redland Bay
Redland Bay is a coastal semi-rural locality in the City of Redland, Queensland, Australia. In the , Redland Bay had a population of 17,056 people.
Since the first European settlers arrived in the mid-19th century, Redland Bay has remained a f ...
,
Birkdale,
Thorneside,
Alexandra Hills
Alexandra Hills is a residential locality in the City of Redland, Queensland, Australia. In the , Alexandra Hills had a population of 16,472 people.
Geography
Alexandra Hills sits between two major areas of Redlands, with Cleveland to the ea ...
,
Thornlands
Thornlands is a coastal residential locality in the City of Redland, Queensland, Australia. In the , Thornlands had a population of 19,263 people.
Geography
Thornlands is located approximately by road south-east Brisbane, the capital of t ...
,
Mount Cotton,
Ormiston
Ormiston is a village in East Lothian, Scotland, near Tranent, Humbie, Pencaitland and Cranston, located on the north bank of the River Tyne at an elevation of about .
The village was the first planned village in Scotland, founded in 173 ...
,
Wellington Point
Wellington Point is a residential coastal locality in the City of Redland, Queensland, Australia. It is a popular seaside destination within the Brisbane metropolitan area and is notable for a popular walk along a sandbar to King Island which em ...
and
Victoria Point. The division also incorporates various islands of
Moreton Bay
Moreton Bay is a bay located on the eastern coast of Australia from central Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources. The waters of Moreton Bay are a popular destination for recreational anglers and are ...
including
Coochiemudlo Island
Coochiemudlo Island is a small island in the southern part of Moreton Bay, near Brisbane, in South East Queensland, Australia. It is also the name of the locality upon the island, which is within the local government area of Redland City, but ...
, the inhabited southern
Bay Islands (
Russell, Karragarra,
Macleay and Lamb) and the big tourist destination of
North Stradbroke Island
North Stradbroke Island (Janday language, Jandai: ''Minjerribah''), colloquially ''Straddie'' or ''North Straddie'', is an island that lies within Moreton Bay in the Australian state of Queensland, southeast of the centre of Brisbane. Original ...
.
It is generally a
residential
A residential area is a land used in which houses, housing predominates, as opposed to industrial district, industrial and Commercial Area, commercial areas.
Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include ...
electorate with some crops, poultry, various
light industries
Light industry are industries that usually are less capital-intensive than heavy industries and are more consumer-oriented than business-oriented, as they typically produce smaller consumer goods. Most light industry products are produced fo ...
and
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...
.
Bowman has traditionally been a highly marginal seat, regularly changing hands between the Australian Labor Party and the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world.
The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...
. Notably, the electorate has been won by the party with the largest national
two party preferred
In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP), is the result of an opinion poll or a projection of an election result where preferences are distributed to one of the two major parties, the Labor Party and the Liberal/Natio ...
vote at every election from
1954
Events
January
* January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting.
* January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...
to
2001
The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
(except
1990
Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
). However, in the
2004 election
The following elections occurred in the year 2004.
Africa
* 2004 Algerian presidential election
* 2004 Botswana general election
* 2004 Cameroonian presidential election
* 2004 Comorian legislative election
* 2004 Equatorial Guinean legislativ ...
, an energetic campaign by Dr
Andrew Laming
Andrew Charles Laming (born 30 September 1966) is an Australian medical doctor and former politician. He was a Liberal Party member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Bowman for the Liberal National Party of Queensland ...
, and an electoral redistribution (due to the creation of the new
Division of Bonner
The Division of Bonner is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian Electoral Division in Queensland, located in the eastern suburbs of Brisbane, including the suburbs of Chandler, Queensland, Chandler, Carindale, Quee ...
, leading veteran Bowman MP
Con Sciacca
Concetto Antonio Sciacca (13 June 1947 – 21 June 2017) was an Australian politician of the Australian Labor Party and member of the Australian House of Representatives from July 1987 to March 1996 and again from October 1998 to October 2004 ...
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
Antony John Green (born 2 March 1960) is an Australian Psephology, psephologist, Data science, data scientist, journalist, and commentator. He was the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's chief election analyst until his retirement from the r ...
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.
[Hurst, Brian]
Time is running out in ALP in Bowman
, ''Bayside Bulletin'', 1 February 2010. Laming went on to retain the seat comfortably for the
Liberal National Party of Queensland
The Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) is a major conservative political party in Queensland, Australia. It was formed in 2008 by a merger of the Queensland divisions of the Liberal Party and the National Party. In most other states ...
in:
2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
, regaining ground with a 9.51% swing towards him;
2013
2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years).
2013 was designated as:
*International Year of Water Cooperation
*International Year of Quinoa
Events
January
* January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
, despite a 6.35% swing against him; and
2016
2016 was designated as:
* International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly.
* International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
, when all parties saw a positive swing in Bowman (for the first time since
1955
Events January
* January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama.
* January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut.
* January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...
), due to the absence of a
Palmer United Party
The United Australia Party (UAP), formerly known as Clive Palmer's United Australia Party and the Palmer United Party (PUP), is an Australian political party formed by mining magnate Clive Palmer in April 2013. The party was deregistered by ...
candidate.
Members
Election results
Notes
References
External links
Division of Bowman (Qld)—
Australian Electoral Commission
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is the independent statutory agency of the Australian Government responsible for the management and oversight of Australian federal elections, plebiscites, referendums and some trade union
A ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowman, Division of
Electoral divisions of Australia
Electoral divisions of Australia in Queensland
Constituencies established in 1949
1949 establishments in Australia
Federal politics in Queensland