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Cook Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Cook in New South Wales, as of the 2016 federal election
Created	1969; 55 years ago (1969)
MP	Simon Kennedy
Party	Liberal
Namesake	James Cook Joseph Cook
Electors	110,313 (2022)
Area	94 km (36.3 sq mi)
Demographic	Inner metropolitan

The Division of Cook is an Australian electoral division in the State of New South Wales.

History

Cook was created in 1969, mostly out of the Liberal-leaning areas of neighbouring Hughes. It was thus a natural choice for that seat's one-term Liberal member, Don Dobie, to transfer after the creation of Cook erased his majority in Hughes. The division was originally named in honour of James Cook, who mapped the east coast of Australia in 1770. In 2006, the Australian Electoral Commission's Redistribution Committee for New South Wales proposed that the division be jointly named for Joseph Cook, Prime Minister of Australia from 1913 to 1914, but this did not eventuate at the time. In 2024, the namesake was finally altered to be joint between both men, to give recognition to Joseph Cook and have a division named after him like other former Prime Ministers.

For most of the first quarter-century of its existence, Cook was a marginal to fairly safe Liberal seat; it has been in Liberal hands for all but two terms. The Liberal majority ballooned with the party's national landslide victory at the 1996 general election, and since then Cook has been a "blue ribbon" safe seat for the Liberal Party. As of the 2019 federal election, it is the safest metropolitan Coalition seat, with a 19-point swing needed for Labor to win it.

The most prominent members were Dobie, who held the seat from its 1969 creation until his retirement in 1996 (with a brief break from 1972 to 1975); Bruce Baird, a former Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party of New South Wales before his move into Federal politics; and Scott Morrison MP, former Prime Minister of Australia 2018–2022.

In 2007, following news of Baird's impending retirement, the seat attracted significant media attention, thanks to the controversial preselection of Liberal candidate Michael Towke. Allegations surfaced to the effect that Towke had engaged in branch-stacking and had embellished his curriculum vitae; although these allegations were subsequently proven false, the damage was done. In August 2007, Towke was disendorsed as the Liberal candidate and was replaced with Morrison, a former director of the New South Wales Liberal Party. Morrison won the seat at the election.

Boundaries

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 is located in the southern suburbs of Sydney, including Beverley Park, Burraneer, Caringbah, Caringbah South, Carss Park, Cronulla, Dolans Bay, Dolls Point, Greenhills Beach, Gymea Bay, Kangaroo Point, Kogarah Bay, Kurnell, Kyle Bay, Lilli Pilli, Miranda, Monterey, Port Hacking, Ramsgate, Ramsgate Beach, Sandringham, Sans Souci, Sylvania Waters, Taren Point, Woolooware, and Yowie Bay; as well as parts of Blakehurst, Connells Point, Gymea, Kogarah, and Sylvania.

Members

	Image	Member	Party	Term	Notes
		Don Dobie (1927–1996)	Liberal	25 October 1969 – 2 December 1972	Previously held the Division of Hughes. Lost seat
		Ray Thorburn (1930–1986)	Labor	2 December 1972 – 13 December 1975	Lost seat
		Don Dobie (1927–1996)	Liberal	13 December 1975 – 29 January 1996	Retired
		Stephen Mutch (1956–)		2 March 1996 – 31 August 1998	Previously a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council. Lost preselection and retired
		Bruce Baird (1942–)		3 October 1998 – 17 October 2007	Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Northcott. Retired
		Scott Morrison (1968–)		24 November 2007 – 28 February 2024	Served as minister under Abbott and Turnbull. Served as Prime Minister from 2018 to 2022. Resigned to retire from politics
		Simon Kennedy (1982–)		13 April 2024 - present	Incumbent

Election results

On 16 April 2024 the Australian Electoral Commission declared Simon Kennedy officially elected as the new member for Cook.

References

1. "The 2006 Proposed Redistribution of New South Wales into 49 Electoral Divisions : Report of the Redistribution Committee" (PDF). Australian Electoral Commission. 2006. p. 36. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 November 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
2. "Redistribution of New South Wales into electoral divisions" (PDF). Australian Electoral Commission. October 2024. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
3. "Liberal Party disendorses Michael Towke" (transcript). PM (ABC Radio). Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 3 August 2007. Archived from the original on 14 November 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
4. Sheehan, Paul (26 October 2009). "Nasty saga you nearly missed". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
5. Clennell, Andrew (3 August 2007). "Libs reject Towke". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
6. Muller, Damon (14 November 2017). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide". Parliament of Australia. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
7. Cook, NSW, 2022 Tally Room, Australian Electoral Commission.
8. AEC (16 April 2024). "The Cook federal by-election result has officially been declared this morning with Simon Kennedy (LIB) officially elected" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 21 April 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024 – via Twitter.
9. "Cook, NSW". AEC Tally Room. Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
10. Green, Antony. "Cook By-election 2024 Results". abc.net.au. Archived from the original on 13 April 2024. Retrieved 13 April 2024.

External links

• Division of Cook – Australian Electoral Commission

34°01′52″S 151°06′00″E / 34.031°S 151.100°E / -34.031; 151.100

• Electoral divisions of Australia
• Constituencies established in 1969
• 1969 establishments in Australia