Cook is an electoral district represented in the Legislative Assembly of the Australian state of Queensland. Cook covers the vast Cape York Peninsula north of Cairns, including the resort town of Port Douglas and the Torres Strait Islands.
The seat is named after British navigator James Cook, who charted the coast and landed on Possession Island – one of the Torres Strait islands – in 1770.
Since 2024 the member for Cook has been David Kempton of the Liberal National Party.
History
1883 election In the 1883 election, there were four candidates for the (then) two-member electorate. They were: Thomas Campbell Frederick Cooper (one of the sitting members) John Hamilton Charles Lumley Hill (a former member in Gregory)
Cooper and Hamilton were elected, but there were allegations of "ballot stuffing", specifically that there were too many votes cast at the California Gully and Halpin's Creek polling stations given the number of electors. The unsuccessful candidates, Campbell and Hill, petitioned to overturn the ballot. In December 1883, arrests were made in connection with the ballot stuffing. On 4 March 1884, the Elections and Qualifications Committee determined that Frederick Cooper should not be elected and that Thomas Campbell should be elected instead.
1884 by-election On 4 August 1885, Thomas Campbell resigned after having been declared insolvent. Charles Lumley Hill won the resulting by-election on 16 September 1885.
1888 election At the 1888 election, Cook returned to being a single-member electorate. Of the two sitting members, Hamilton contested the seat but Hill did not, saying that he was retiring from politics. However, Hill did not retire, but instead contested the election in Port Curtis, but he was unsuccessful. Hamilton was elected in Cook.
Members for Cook First incarnation (1876–1878, 1 member)MemberPartyTerm William Edward Murphy Unaligned 1876–1878 Second incarnation (1878–1888, 2 members)MemberPartyTerm John Walsh Unaligned 1878–1883 Frederick Cooper Unaligned 1878–1884 John Hamilton Ministerialist 1883–1888 Thomas Campbell Unaligned 1884–1885 Charles Lumley Hill Unaligned 1885–1888 Third incarnation (1888–present, 1 member)MemberPartyTerm John Hamilton Ministerialist 1888–1904 John Hargreaves Ministerialist 1904–1907 Henry Douglas Ministerialist / Opposition /Independent Opposition /Ministerialist / Liberal 1907–1915 Henry Ryan Labor 1915–1929 James Kenny Country and Progressive National 1929–1935 Harold Collins Labor 1935–1950 Carlisle Wordsworth Country 1950–1953 Bunny Adair Labor 1953–1957 Queensland Labor 1957–1963 Independent 1963–1969 Bill Wood Labor 1969–1972 Edwin Wallis-Smith Labor 1972–1974 Eric Deeral National 1974–1977 Bob Scott Labor 1977–1989 Steve Bredhauer Labor 1989–2004 Jason O'Brien Labor 2004–2012 David Kempton Liberal National 2012–2015 Billy Gordon Labor 2015 Independent 2015–2017 Cynthia Lui Labor 2017–2024 David Kempton Liberal National 2024–present
Election results
References
External links Electorate profile (Antony Green, ABC) — 1931 history of the electorate