Division of Cooper
| Cooper Australian House of Representatives Division | |
|---|---|
Interactive map of electorate boundaries | |
| Created | 2019 |
| MP | Ged Kearney |
| Party | Labor |
| Namesake | William Cooper |
| Electors | 119,958 (2025) |
| Area | 61 km2 (23.6 sq mi) |
| Demographic | Inner metropolitan |
| Coordinates | 37°44′49″S 145°0′29″E / 37.74694°S 145.00806°E |
The Division of Cooper is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. It takes in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. The division was contested for the first time at the 2019 federal election, with Ged Kearney of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) elected as its inaugural member of parliament. She had previously represented the Division of Batman since the 2018 by-election. Kearney has remained the incumbent member since the 2019 election.
History
[edit]
The division is named in honour of the Aboriginal Australian political activist William Cooper (1861–1941).
The Division of Cooper was created in 2018 after the Australian Electoral Commission oversaw a mandatory redistribution of divisions in Victoria.[1] Cooper replaced the previous Division of Batman and covered a similar area.
At the time, the seat was notionally held by the Labor Party on a 0.6% margin over the Greens, when compared to the result for Batman at the 2016 federal election.[2] Batman had been in Labor hands for all but six years since 1910. The 2PP vote has historically been stronger for the ALP in the north of the electorate, and the Greens vote stronger in the south. The north and south of the electorate are divided by Bell Street, Preston, which has been referred to as the "hipster-proof fence" or "Quinoa curtain".[3]
At the 2019 election incumbent Ged Kearney received a 2PP swing of over 13% versus the Greens candidate David Risstrom, making the seat once again safe for the ALP.[4] At the 2022 federal election, Greens candidate Celeste Liddle received a 6.16 swing in her favour (2PP), for a final result of 58.67-41.33.[5]
In 2024, another redistribution moved the entire suburb of Clifton Hill from the Division of Melbourne into the south of Cooper. This area voted 60-40 Greens-ALP at the 2022 federal election, reducing the margin of 8.7% to a notional margin of 7.8% as a result of the redistribution.[6]
Geography
[edit]Federal electoral division boundaries in Australia are 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.[7]
When the division was created in 2018, its geography mirrored almost entirely the Division of Batman, which it replaced in this redistribution.[2] Unlike Batman, Cooper included parts of Coburg North, which had previously belonged in the neighbouring division of Wills within the Moreland local government area (now Merri-bek). However, it no longer featured parts of Thomastown or Bundoora which were in the Whittlesea local government area.[2][8][9]
Like Batman, the southern portion of the division also crossed the Merri Creek into the City of Yarra, and included the part of Clifton Hill bounded by the creek, Hoddle Street and the Eastern Freeway. This area was lost in 2021 to the Division of Melbourne, and the division no longer crossed the creek or the City of Yarra. This was reversed in the subsequent redistribution in 2024 with a larger gain, this time gaining the entire suburb of Clifton Hill.[8]
As of the 2024 redistribution, the Division of Cooper comprises the entire City of Darebin, with a portion of City of Merri-bek that was east of the Merri Creek and a portion of the City of Yarra north of the Yarra Bend.[10] It is bordered by the Merri Creek to the west and Darebin Creek to the east, and shares majority of its boundaries with the City of Darebin. The division includes the suburbs of Alphington, Bundoora, Clifton Hill, Coburg, Coburg North, Fairfield, Kingsbury, Macleod, Northcote, Preston, Reservoir, and Thornbury.[11]
Cooper includes a small part of the state electoral district of Pascoe Vale, and all of the districts of Northcote, Preston, and Thomastown.[12][13][14] Cooper is classified by the AEC as an Inner Metropolitan seat.[10]
Members
[edit]| Image | Member | Party | Term | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Ged Kearney (1963–) |
Labor | 18 May 2019 – present |
Previously held the Division of Batman. Incumbent | |
Election results
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Ged Kearney | 45,151 | 41.97 | +1.28 | |
| Greens | Tara Burnett | 27,123 | 25.21 | −3.20 | |
| Liberal | Stewart Todhunter | 16,280 | 15.13 | −1.09 | |
| Victorian Socialists | Kath Larkin | 9,012 | 8.38 | +4.92 | |
| One Nation | William Turner | 5,684 | 5.28 | +2.38 | |
| Legalise Cannabis | Donna Stolzenberg | 4,336 | 4.03 | +4.03 | |
| Total formal votes | 107,586 | 97.09 | +1.28 | ||
| Informal votes | 3,227 | 2.91 | −1.28 | ||
| Turnout | 110,813 | 92.41 | +4.57 | ||
| Notional two-party-preferred count | |||||
| Labor | Ged Kearney | 84,489 | 78.53 | +2.82 | |
| Liberal | Stewart Todhunter | 23,097 | 21.47 | −2.82 | |
| Two-candidate-preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Ged Kearney | 64,246 | 59.72 | +0.80 | |
| Greens | Tara Burnett | 43,340 | 40.28 | −0.80 | |
| Labor hold | Swing | +0.80 | |||
References
[edit]- ^ "Names and boundaries of federal electoral divisions in Victoria decided". Australian Electoral Commission. 20 June 2018. Archived from the original on 19 March 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
- ^ a b c "2017-18 Federal Redistributions - Victoria". ABC Elections. 20 June 2018. Archived from the original on 23 August 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
- ^ Willingham, Richard (16 March 2018). "Hipsters to working class voting in Batman by-election". ABC News. Archived from the original on 18 September 2024. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
- ^ Cooper, VIC Archived 15 January 2022 at the Wayback Machine, Tally Room 2019, Australian Electoral Commission.
- ^ Cooper, VIC Archived 25 October 2022 at the Wayback Machine, 2022 Tally Room, Australian Electoral Commission.
- ^ Green, Antony (5 September 2024). "2024 Federal Redistributions – Final Boundaries for Victoria Released". Antony Green's Election Blog. Archived from the original on 3 December 2024. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b "Cooper". Parliamentary Handbook. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
- ^ "Batman". Parliamentary Handbook. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
- ^ a b "Profile of the electoral division of Cooper (Vic)". Australian Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 8 October 2024. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
- ^ "2024 Map of the Division of Cooper" (PDF). Australian Electoral Commission. 2024. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
- ^ "Northcote District". www.vec.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
- ^ VEC. "Preston District". www.vec.vic.gov.au. Archived from the original on 22 October 2024. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
- ^ VEC. "Thomastown District". www.vec.vic.gov.au. Archived from the original on 22 October 2024. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
- ^ Cooper, Vic, 2025 Tally Room, Australian Electoral Commission.