# Division of Fowler

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.
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). At the time of the 2022 Australian federal election, 16% of Fowler's population possessed Vietnamese ancestry, and 11% possessed Chinese heritage.
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.

## Geography

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.

## History

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

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.
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
### Population

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

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

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

| Member | Party | Term | Notes |
| Ted Grace (1931–2020) | Labor | 1 December 1984 – 31 August 1998 | Retired |
| Julia Irwin (1951–) | Labor | 3 October 1998 – 19 July 2010 | Retired |
| Chris Hayes (1955–) | Labor | 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

2022 Australian federal election: Fowler :
| Party | 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 | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 85,903 | 89.48 | +2.59 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 10,098 | 10.52 | −2.59 |
| Turnout | Turnout | 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 | Independent gain from Labor | | | |