Patricia Ann Cook is an Australian politician. She is a member 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 ...

(ALP) and is a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

since 2025, representing the

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

n seat of Bullwinkel. She worked as a nurse and midwife before entering politics. She was deputy shire president for the

Shire of Mundaring The Shire of Mundaring is a Local government areas of Western Australia, local government area in Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council, eastern metropolitan Perth, the capital of Western Australia. The Shire covers an area of and had a popul ...

, where she lives in

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

, from 2023 to 2025.

Education

Cook first received a General Nursing Diploma from a St John of God hospital in 1985 before getting a Midwifery diploma in 1988, and receiving her bachelor of Health Science in 1996 from

Edith Cowan University Edith Cowan University (ECU) is a public research university in Western Australia. It is named in honour of the first woman to be elected to an Parliaments of the Australian states and territories, Australian parliament, Edith Cowan, and is, , t ...

(ECU). Between 1999 and 2006 she attended

Curtin University Curtin University (previously Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology) is an Australian public university, public research university based in Bentley, Western Australia, Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. ...

gaining a graduate diploma and masters in Occupational Health and Safety. She returned to ECU in 2016 to gain a PhD.

Career

As a nurse she worked in regional areas of Western Australia such as Northam, and while working under Occupational Health and Safety from 1996 she worked for the oil and gas sector until 2011. From 2008 to 2011 Cook was a lecturer at Curtin University for Occupational Health and Safety. She also worked as a tutor for undergraduate students at ECU at

Joondalup Joondalup () is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, approximately north of Perth central business district, Perth's central business district. It contains the central business district of the regional City of Joondalup and acts as the primar ...

from 2017 to 2021.

Politics

Cook was first elected to Mundaring Shire Council on 19 October 2013 in an ordinary election for South Ward receiving 28.29% of the vote (779 votes). Her term expired on 21 October 2017 and did not contest for another term, being succeeded by Darrell Jones. She did run in the 2021 ordinary election and was once again elected as a councilor for South Ward. In October 2023. Cook was appointed as deputy shire president succeeding Paige McNeil who had been elected as shire president. In September 2024 the federal ALP selected Trish Cook as their candidate for the newly created

Division of Bullwinkel The Division of Bullwinkel is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in the States and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia contested for the first time at the 2025 Australian fede ...

having replaced their previous candidate MLC Kyle McGinn who was originally chosen in July by the state ALP administration, neither the ALP, McGinn, or Cook commented on why the change was made. At the 2025 Federal election Cook won the new marginal seat of Bullwinkel as its first member of parliament, though the seat took several days to call; the margin was 1,066 votes. She subsequently resigned from her position as a councilor and Deputy Shire President of Mundaring on 28 May 2025. She was succeeded by councilor Luke Ellery as Deputy Shire President of Mundaring.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Trish Living people Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Bullwinkel Women members of the Australian House of Representatives Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Australian nurses Australian women nurses Australian Labor Party councillors Western Australian local councillors