The Division of Cooper was created in 2018 after the Australian Electoral Commission oversaw a mandatory redistribution of divisions in Victoria.[1] Cooper's geography mirrors almost entirely the Division of Batman, which it replaced in this redistribution.[2] Unlike Batman, Cooper includes parts of Coburg North which had previously belonged in the neighbouring division of Wills, though it no longer features parts of Thomastown or Bundoora.[2] In 2024, another redistribution moved the 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.[3]
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] 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]
Geography
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.[6]
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, Reservoir, which has been referred to as the "hipster-proof fence" or "Quinoa curtain".[12]
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Primary vote results in Batman/Cooper (Parties that did not get 5% of the vote are omitted)
Liberal
Labor
Australian Democrats
Greens
Australian Conservatives
Call to Australia
Independent
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.