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Division of Fowler

Coordinates: 33°54′00″S 150°52′37″E / 33.900°S 150.877°E / -33.900; 150.877
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Fowler
Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Fowler in New South Wales, as of the 2016 federal election
Created1984
MPDai Le
PartyWestern Sydney Community
NamesakeLilian Fowler
Electors108,517 (2022)
Area62 km2 (23.9 sq mi)
DemographicOuter metropolitan

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.[1]

Fowler is a diverse electorate, containing immigrant communities of Vietnamese and Chinese ancestry. According to the 2021 census, 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).[2] At the time of the 2022 Australian federal election, 16% of Fowler's population possessed Vietnamese ancestry, and 11% possessed Chinese heritage.[3]

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.[1]

Geography

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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.[4]

History

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Lilian Fowler, the division's namesake

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

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, and Yennora.

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

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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. Dai 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.[5]

Le won the seat after a major swing against Labor. Keneally's slightly higher first preference vote was not high enough to prevent Le from winning on the two party preferred count. Liberal Party, United Australia, One Nation and Liberal Democrats preferences flowed to Le while the small number of Greens votes and voters not following a typical right to left preference flow were not enough to keep it in the hands of Labor. It was the first time Labor had lost the seat, after 13 straight election wins.

Demographics

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Population

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The population as at the 2021 Census in the division of Fowler was 173,523 people.[2]

People

Persons count based on place of usual residence on Census night

Fowler %
Male 85,684 49.4
Female 87,839 50.6
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people 1,494 0.9
Total 173,523 100

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;

Country of birth Fowler %
Australia 67,784 39.1
Other top responses
Vietnam 17,813 16.0
Iraq 15,022 8.7
Cambodia 5,708 3.3
China (excluding SARs and Taiwan) 3,464 2.0
Syria 2,561 1.5

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%.

Country of birth of parents, stated responses Fowler % New South Wales % Australia %
Both parents born overseas 134,212 77.3 3,181,894 39.4 9,321,603 36.7
Father only born overseas 5,811 3.3 509,789 6.3 1,670,476 6.6
Mother only born overseas 4,176 2.4 369,492 4.6 1,257,942 4.9
Both parents born in Australia 16,758 9.7 3,529,168 43.7 11,663,577 45.9

Median weekly income

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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.

Median weekly incomes

People aged 15 years and over

Fowler New South Wales Australia
Personal 521 813 805
Family 1,529 2,185 2,120
Household 1,403 1,829 1,746

Employment

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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%

Employment

People who reported being in the labour force, aged 15 years and over

Fowler % New South Wales % Australia %
Worked full-time 29,681 47.8 2,136,610 55.2 7,095,103 55.9
Worked part-time 16,320 26.3 2,136,610 29.7 3,962,550 31.2
Away from work 10,723 17.3 395,888 10.2 991,758 7.8
Unemployed 5,354 8.6 189,852 4.9 646,442 5.1

Members

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Image Member Party Term Notes
  Ted Grace
(1931–2020)
Labor 1 December 1984
31 August 1998
Retired
  Julia Irwin
(1951–)
3 October 1998
19 July 2010
Retired
  Chris Hayes
(1955–)
21 August 2010
11 April 2022
Previously held the Division of Werriwa. Served as Chief Government Whip in the House under Gillard and Rudd. Retired
  Dai Le
(1968–)
Independent 21 May 2022
present
Incumbent

Election results

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2022 Australian federal election: Fowler[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labor Kristina Keneally 30,973 36.06 −18.48
Independent Dai Le 25,346 29.51 +29.51
Liberal Courtney Nguyen 14,740 17.16 −12.89
United Australia Lela Panich 5,512 6.42 +2.09
Greens Avery Howard 4,191 4.88 −0.66
One Nation Tony Margos 3,047 3.55 +3.55
Liberal Democrats Peter Runge 2,094 2.44 +2.44
Total formal votes 85,903 89.48 +2.59
Informal votes 10,098 10.52 −2.59
Turnout 96,001 88.54 −1.50
Notional two-party-preferred count
Labor Kristina Keneally 47,864 55.72 –8.27
Liberal Courtney Nguyen 38,039 44.28 +8.27
Two-candidate-preferred result
Independent Dai Le 44,348 51.63 +51.63
Labor Kristina Keneally 41,555 48.37 −15.62
Independent gain from Labor  
Alluvial diagram for preference flows in the seat of Fowler in the 2022 federal election. checkY indicates at what stage the winning candidate had over 50% of the votes and was declared the winner.
Primary vote results in Fowler (Parties that did not get 5% of the vote are omitted)
  Labor
  Liberal
  Greens
  Christian Democrats
  Australian Democrats
  Unity
  Palmer United/United Australia Party
  One Nation
  Independent
Two-candidate-preferred results in Fowler

References

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  1. ^ a b Green, Antony. "Fowler - Federal Election 2022". abc.net.au. Archived from the original on 3 December 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Fowler". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 3 December 2024. Edit this at Wikidata
  3. ^ Fang, Jason; Xing, Dong; Handley, Erin (24 May 2022). "Chinese-Australian voters helped sway the election result. So what issues mattered most to them?". ABC News. Archived from the original on 3 December 2024. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  4. ^ Muller, Damon (25 August 2022). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide" (PDF). Research Paper Series 2022–23. Parliamentary Library. ISSN 2203-5249. Archived from the original on 26 April 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2022 – via Department of Parliamentary Services.
  5. ^ Mayers, Lily (17 August 2016). "Liberal Party doles out 10-year suspension after councillor's independent mayor bid". ABC News. Archived from the original on 3 December 2024.
  6. ^ Fowler, NSW, 2022 Tally Room, Australian Electoral Commission.
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33°54′00″S 150°52′37″E / 33.900°S 150.877°E / -33.900; 150.877