NAT 26.7%
Incumbent MP
Steph Cooke, since 2017.
Geography
South-western NSW. Cootamundra covers the towns of Cootamundra, Gundagai, Young, Cowra, West Wyalong, Boorowa and Narrandera, amongst others, in the area between Wagga Wagga, Yass, Griffith and Forbes. Cootamundra covers the Bland, Coolamon, Cootamundra-Gundagai, Cowra, Hilltops, Junee, Narrandera, Temora and Weddin council areas.
Redistribution
Cootamundra expanded slightly to take in the remainder of the Hilltops council area (the former Boorowa council area). This change reduced the Nationals margin from 27.1% to 26.7%.
History
Cootamundra was created in 2015, taking in parts of the former seats of Burrinjuck and Murrumbidgee.
The electoral district of Burrinjuck existed from 1950 to 2015. It was a Labor seat from 1950 to 1988, a Liberal seat from 1988 to 1998, and a National Party seat from 1999 until 2015.
Burrinjuck was won in 1999 by National Party candidate Katrina Hodgkinson. She held the seat until it was abolished in 2015.
Murrumbidgee was dominated by the ALP in the middle part of the last century, but has been held by the National Party since 1984.
Murrumbidgee was held by the National Party’s Adrian Piccoli from 1999 until 2015, when he shifted to the seat of Murray.
Hodgkinson won Cootamundra in 2015. She resigned from parliament in 2017, and the 2017 by-election was won by Nationals candidate Steph Cooke. Cooke was re-elected in 2019.
Assessment
Cootamundra is a very safe Nationals seat.
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Steph Cooke | Nationals | 30,206 | 63.7 | -2.2 | 61.4 |
| Matthew Stadtmiller | Shooters, Fishers & Farmers | 7,447 | 15.7 | +15.7 | 15.7 |
| Mark Douglass | Labor | 7,302 | 15.4 | -10.6 | 15.6 |
| Jeffrey Passlow | Greens | 1,380 | 2.9 | -0.6 | 2.9 |
| Joseph Costello | Sustainable Australia | 660 | 1.4 | +1.4 | 1.3 |
| Jim Saleam | Independent | 453 | 1.0 | +1.0 | 0.9 |
| Others | 2.1 | ||||
| Informal | 1,319 | 2.7 |
2019 two-party-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Steph Cooke | Nationals | 32,504 | 77.1 | +6.7 | 76.7 |
| Mark Douglass | Labor | 9,673 | 22.9 | -6.7 | 23.3 |
Booths in Cootamundra have been split into four parts: north-east (including Young and Cowra), north-west (including West Wyalong), south-east (including Boorowa, Cootamundra and Gundagai) and south-west (including Junee and Narrandera).
The Nationals won a majority of the two-party-preferred vote in all four areas, ranging from 60.6% in the south-east to 87.5% in the north-west.
The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers came a narrow second on primary votes, with their primary vote ranging from 13.3% in the south-west to 20.5% in the south-east.
| Voter group | SFF prim % | NAT 2PP % | Total votes | % of votes |
| North-East | 16.0 | 78.9 | 8,990 | 18.3 |
| South-West | 13.3 | 81.4 | 7,354 | 15.0 |
| South-East | 20.5 | 60.6 | 6,228 | 12.7 |
| North-West | 15.4 | 87.5 | 1,850 | 3.8 |
| Pre-poll | 14.5 | 78.7 | 17,834 | 36.3 |
| Other votes | 16.3 | 74.6 | 6,920 | 14.1 |
Election results in Cootamundra at the 2019 NSW state election
Toggle between two-party-preferred votes and primary votes for the Nationals, the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers and Labor.
SFF came 2nd last time barely, so why is it Lab vs Nat?
Also why does the SFF do poorly here compared to other regional seats in the west?
SFF came second on first preferences, but Labor would have leapfrogged SFF on Greens preferences.
Not safe np.. but when Charlie sheanan stood he reduced it to a 10% margin…. the side adjoining the Mia seems too anti Labor.But if returns to roughly Old Burrinjuck boundaries alp could win given a good candidate such as Charlie
@Daniel, I believe physical geography had a major role in the SFF vote in 2019. Their best results were in semi-arid areas on the Murray-Darling where most farms rely on irrigation & were directly affected by atrocious water management, drought & a whole host of other issues, whilst their vote total was lower in more fertile areas.
@Mick Quinlivan, I agree that the margin here is much higher than it should be. Perhaps Labor could get 30-40% of the 2PP if they are lucky. Otherwise, a boundary change would be the only thing that saves them here; though the party has essentially collapsed west of the Great Dividing Range.
In small country towns in particular a busy, competent, empathetic and communicative local member can have and bit impact. Steph Cooke is that. I first met her when wanting flowers for my father’s funeral at Young. She had driven down to Sydney flower markets overnight and had then went on to work a full day in the florist shop. I kept seeing here around town and always a ball of energy in a hurry. After elected to parliament she graced the covers of local newspapers just about every week, either opening something, handing over cheques or supporting people’s initiatives. Labor could bring back Billy Sheehan or Al Grassby from the dead and they wouldn’t nudge this member aside I’m afraid.
MLC Mick Veitch from Young was disendorsed by Labor today at Conference. He would be I think the strongest candidate the ALP could through at this (but still couldn’t win).
Would pick the sitting np.mp
To retain
Not a safe np seat 26% . Inflated margin. 13% opv
This area partly the fiefdom
Of Terr
Terry and Billy sheanan.on.slightly different boundaries minus some.of half
The seat adjoining Murray.labor could win
Certain nat hold
Is there any particular reason Gundagai votes Labor, is this usually the case or is it because of the strong SFF showing there. The next best booth for Labor is Rye Park which is 61% for the Nats.
@mick actually its ajoingin goulburn. labor have about as much chance here as nats have in cessnock
@ North East
Gundagai is a Labor voting Town i think historically maybe Railway workshops etc. If Hume/Goulburn extended from Goulburn Town along the Hume Highway to include Yass, Collector, Brookham etc Labor has a good chance of winning it. Even at a federal level it often votes Labor
Steph Cooke has a huge personal vote.. compare the vote in the town of Cootamundra to the by-elections
@mick which by elections that? by elections cant really be used as a snap shot of overall electoral swing when they go against the governemtn of the day as people often vote against the governemnt on lots of different reaons and cant ususlay be used to determine a trend.
2017 by-election. What of Upper Hunter?
Gundagai’s not really a Labor voting town that’s just mainly due to the council amalgamations
@Ben You might be right, looking at the results this election he town of Gundagai swung quite heavily to the Nats.