Division Of Fowler

The Division of Fowler is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales.

Fowler is based in Sydney's outer southwestern suburbs of Liverpool, Warwick Farm, Chipping Norton, Cabramatta, Canley Vale, Mount Pritchard, Abbotsbury, Bossley Park, Edensor Park, Greenfield Park, Prairiewood, St Johns Park, Wakeley, Bonnyrigg, Canley Heights, Carramar and Fairfield East.

Fowler is a diverse electorate, containing immigrant communities of Vietnamese and Chinese ancestry. According to the , 39.1% of electors were born in Australia, 16.0% were born in Vietnam and 2.0% were born in China (excluding SARs and Taiwan). At the time of the 2022 Australian federal election, 16% of Fowler's population possessed Vietnamese ancestry, and 11% possessed Chinese heritage.

The current MP is Dai Le, who was elected as an independent in 2022. She is the first non-Labor politician to represent Fowler. Le has strong links to the Vietnamese community in Fowler; she was born in Vietnam and migrated to Australia as an eleven year old after three years in a Philippines refugee camp.

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.

The division includes the Sydney suburbs of Cabramatta, Cabramatta West, Canley Heights, Chipping Norton, Edensor Park, Fairfield East, Greenfield Park, Liverpool, St Johns Park, Wakeley, and Warwick Farm; as well as parts of Abbotsbury, Bonnyrigg, Bossley Park, Canley Vale, Carramar, Fairfield, Fairfield West, Guildford, Moorebank, Mount Pritchard, Prairiewood, Wetherill Park and Yennora.

History

The division was created in 1984 and is named after Lilian Fowler, the first female mayor in Australia.

The member for Fowler from the 2010 federal election to the 2022 federal election has been Chris Hayes, a member of the Australian Labor Party.

2022 election

After announcing that he would retire at the 2022 federal election, Hayes endorsed Tu Le, a locally resident lawyer, to succeed him. A factional dispute involving winnable seats on the Senate ticket saw Senator Kristina Keneally parachuted into the election for the "safe" seat in order to resolve the dispute. It would also allow Keneally to serve on the ministerial or shadow frontbench following the election. Keneally's move was heavily criticised both in the community and within the party for her decision to usurp the position of a local candidate, with Keneally living on Scotland Island on Sydney's Northern Beaches, over an hour's drive from the electorate.

Dai Le, a local independent who was serving as the deputy mayor of the Fairfield City Council announced her intention to stand for the seat. Le had been a Liberal Party member earlier in her career until her expulsion from the party as her bid for mayor breached party rules regarding running against an endorsed candidate.

Le won the seat after a significant swing against Labor. Keneally's higher first preference vote was not high enough to prevent Le from winning on the two-candidate-preferred count. After Le relegated the Liberal Party to third place, she received most preferences from the voters of three right-wing minor parties and some Greens voters. When the majority of Liberal voter preferences also flowed to Le, she overtook the primary vote of Labor, ending their run of 13 consecutive victories in Fowler.

In April 2025, Anthony Albanese visited Cabramatta Public School with Tu Le, who became the Labor candidate. During that visit he conceded that selecting Keneally for Fowler was a mistake.

Demographics

Population

The population as at the 2021 Census in the division of Fowler was 173,523 people.

The Division of Fowler is one of Australia's most multicultural communities with a very high percentage of migrants and first generation Australians. As at the 2021 Census the breakdown of country of birth was;

Fowler has a high multicultural population compared to the national and state averages. 77.3% of the population of Fowler had both parents born overseas. While the general percentage of all Australians with both parents born overseas is 36.7%.

Median weekly income

The median weekly personal income for people aged 15 years and over in Fowler (Commonwealth Electoral Division) as at the 2021 Census was lower than the national and state averages.

Employment

There were 62,077 people who reported being in the labour force in the week before census night in Fowler (Commonwealth Electoral Division). Of these, 47.8% were employed full time, 26.3% were employed part-time and 8.6% were unemployed. Unemployment is significantly higher that the New South Wales state average of 4.9% and the national average of 5.1%

Members

Election results

Notes

References

External links

Division of Fowler - Australian Electoral Commission

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler, Division of
Electoral divisions of Australia
Electoral divisions of Australia in New South Wales
Constituencies established in 1984
1984 establishments in Australia