Election 2025: Cowper candidates and what they stand for
The country will be watching the contest for the seat of Cowper closely during the upcoming federal election. Here’s everything you need to know about who’s contesting in the marginal seat.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
All eyes will be on the electorate of Cowper this federal election after an independent came within a whisker of winning the seat in 2022.
Independent candidate Caz Heise received more than 26 per cent of the first preference count to take up the challenge to incumbent National Party MP Pat Conaghan.
Mr Conaghan, who was first elected to parliament in 2019, suffered a swing against him of more than seven per cent before being returned with a margin of just 2.41 per cent on the two-candidate preferred count.
Cowper has been a National Party stronghold since 1983 and covers 7296sq km from Port Macquarie in the south to Coffs Harbour in the north.
Pat Conaghan, The Nationals
Pat Conaghan, the current Federal Member for Cowper, was born and raised in Kempsey and is the youngest of five children and the son of a local doctor.
Before 2019, he worked as a police officer, police prosecutor and solicitor for almost 30 years, and has a good understanding of the law and its importance to society.
What inspired you to run for the seat?
I became a politician to work hard and see the residents of Cowper receive the services and support we really need, whether it’s an aged care package, getting help with the NDIS, accessing affordable health care, improving our housing supply or reducing red tape to make business easier.
What do you see as the biggest issues for this election and how do they apply to the region?
Cost of living remains the No. 1 issue, with rampant inflation, untenably high mortgage rates, unreasonably high prices at the checkout and soaring energy and insurance costs.
With the post-Covid influx of people to the Mid North Coast, our housing supply has been squeezed and costs have escalated exponentially, making the dream of home ownership out of reach for more people than ever before.
The declining bulk billing rates and number of available general practitioners when compared to our growing population, has been of great concern.
What is your top three wish list for the electorate?
Get our local economy back on track – from putting downward pressure on inflation to providing small business supports and removing red tape and government overreach.
Work collaboratively with all levels of government to provide our communities with the infrastructure we really need.
Get our care industries back on track – from childcare to aged care, health care to the NDIS and veteran supports.
Zeke Daley, Independent
Zeke Daley is 18 years old, from Nambucca Heads, with strong ties to the area five generations strong.
Diversity in parliament and new ways of thinking are important to him, especially noting that decisions made today will impact his generation the most significantly.
What inspired you to run for the seat?
As someone born and bred here, with deep generational ties to this community, I am committed to addressing the pressing issues affecting our region.
I want to bring diversity into parliament, particularly younger voices, as the decisions made today will impact my generation.
What do you see as the biggest issues for this election and how do they apply to the region?
Many of the issues are state-based but impact all Australians, and so we need to consider how we can cut the red tape, such as under-resourced public education and the need for many to relocate for tertiary studies, incurring additional costs for those in our region.
Another issue – the rising cost of living – can be assisted by initiatives such as government-supported no-interest loans for solar panel installations to reduce energy expenses.
What is your top three wish list for the electorate?
Improving mobile and internet connectivity, better access to healthcare, and creating more employment opportunities.
Wendy Firefly, the Greens
Wendy Firefly has been a social worker for 15 years working with homelessness, mental health, drug and alcohol, youth and aged care.
She has gained a great understanding of who gets left behind and the ever-growing divide between the rich and the poor.
What inspired you to run for the seat?
I’m running in Cowper because I’m sick of the major parties’ policies and laws allowing big corporations to make record profits, some of the biggest in the world, while the Australian people are suffering so it’s time to tax corporations so people and the environment can thrive.
What do you see as the biggest issues for this election and how do they apply to the region?
First Nations justice – led by First Nations people and stop pulling funding away from programs that are making a difference.
The cost of living is crippling everyone so we have to make price gouging illegal to make food cheaper so families can afford to eat nutritious meals.
Create affordable housing so everyone has a safe place to live, capping rent and making it easier for first homeowners – so people don’t have to spend a third of their wages on housing.
What is your top three wish list for the electorate?
Improving everyone’s standard of living, creating affordable housing and better access to health care.
Taxing corporations 10 per cent, improving our public services to make it easier for every Australian by bridging the gap between the rich and the poor.
Investing in education and early intervention so every child gets the support they need to become who they dream to be, providing care and not treating kids like criminals.
Caz Heise, Independent
Caz Heise is a nurse, former hospital executive and emergency response co-ordinator who has spent decades working in health on the Mid-North Coast.
With the support of over 1500 volunteers, she turned Cowper from a safe seat in 2019 into the Nationals’ most marginal, falling short by just 2600 votes.
What inspired you to run for the seat?
Working as a nurse and health leader, I saw first-hand how political decisions were failing our region – health care and housing were out of reach, grocery prices were skyrocketing and poor phone and internet services made it impossible for people to run businesses, study, or stay connected.
What do you see as the biggest issues for this election and how do they apply to the region?
Access to affordable health care, the cost of living and housing are top concerns across Cowper.
People are struggling to get a GP appointment, afford groceries, or find a secure place to live.
We need a strong, independent voice who will fight for long-term investment in the services and infrastructure our region deserves.
What is your top three wish list for the electorate?
First, fix our local healthcare system by increasing funding for GPs, mental health and aged care.
Secondly, build more affordable housing and ensure planning rules and incentives work for regional communities.
Thirdly improve phone and internet coverage so people can live, work and run businesses across Cowper.
Geoff Marlow, Fusion Party
Geoffrey Marlow is relatively new to Cowper and has lived on the NSW Central Coast and Brisbane.
He has been a chef for most of his career and is studying law.
What inspired you to run for the seat?
My personal passion derives from the current inability of the government to have a voice for the actual voters.
What do you see as the biggest issues for this election and how do they apply to the region?
The cost of living and homeless issues, coupled with out-of-control youth violence and crime.
Housing affordability and the cost of groceries/fuel have risen to egregious levels and the current parliament is so far out of touch, that the only help they offer is energy relief that equates to less than a tank of fuel.
What is your top three wish list for the electorate?
New methods and avenues to achieve a house for every Australian, either by way of commission, renting or purchase.
We can introduce new schemes such as council equity schemes, reduced interest schemes and changing the borrowing criteria for purchase and realistic rental caps.
Youth crime, especially in the Mid-North Coast, is at an highest and parents and authorities all need to work together to create and implement a new set of laws and policies to start the education properly to help eradicate some of this cancerous behaviour from our towns.
Megan Mathew, Legalise Cannabis Party
Megan Mathew is a single parent with five children and three grandchildren.
She’s worked in all levels of the hospitality industry, as well as being qualified in child care, event management, horticulture and community services.
What inspired you to run for the seat?
Megan’s journey into advocacy began when she became a legally prescribed medicinal cannabis patient in 2019 to treat complex post traumatic stress disorder and found significant improvement in her condition with medicinal cannabis.
What do you see as the biggest issues for this election and how do they apply to the region?
The potential of the hemp industry to transform both the environment and the economy.
Housing affordability and homelessness are key issues I want to address in Canberra by pushing for increased federal investment in social and affordable housing and advocate for policies that support renters and first-home buyers rather than just property investors.
What is your top three wish list for the electorate?
Access to health care in rural and regional areas is another major issue needing improvement.
I support increased Medicare funding, incentives to attract GPs to regional areas and expanded mental health services to ensure that no one is left behind.
Small businesses deserve better support from the federal government via tax reform, fairer banking policies and investment in regional infrastructure to grow and succeed.
Paul Templeton, Libertarian
Paul Templeton is a former member of the Australian Defence Force and a former Coffs Harbour councillor. He’s a father and grandfather and has had a long career in information technology.
What inspired you to run for the seat?
As a small-business owner and father in Cowper, I’m fed up with government policies that suffocate our region’s potential and drive families into poverty.
I’m running to give everyday Australians a voice and fight for the freedom to keep what we earn.
What do you see as the biggest issues for this election and how do they apply to the region?
Crippling taxes and skyrocketing living costs crush Cowper, one of Australia’s poorest regions, making homes and groceries unaffordable for families.
Government overreach and red tape choke small businesses in Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie, while the Nationals’ heavy taxes and the Teals’ costly green schemes hit us hardest.
Libertarians demand lower taxes and less interference to lift our region from economic despair – now.
What is your top three wish list for the electorate?
Slash taxes to let Cowper’s workers and businesses keep more of their money, boosting local prosperity. Cut red tape to free small businesses and farmers from suffocating regulations.
Secure better infrastructure funding for roads and health services to support our growing, undeserved region.
Greg Vigors, Australian Labor Party
Greg Vigors has lived and worked in the Cowper electorate for nearly 35 years and raised his family here.
He switched from marketing to working in the disability and government sectors and has volunteered as a lifesaver with 25 years as a patrol captain at Sawtell.
What inspired you to run for the seat?
I believe in social justice and that all Australians should have the same opportunities to reach their potential.
Cowper became a marginal seat because the people here feel they’ve been neglected too long and deserve better.
What do you see as the biggest issues for this election and how do they apply to the region?
The cost of living and protecting Medicare with an increase of over $5bn to its funding will mean almost everyone is bulk billed for a GP visit and pharmaceutical benefits scheme scripts will be capped at $25.
Housing: The shared equity housing fund, build to rent and Housing Australia Future Fund means Labor is helping more Australians get into the housing market and, just as importantly, increasing the supply of new houses being built.
Labor, under Gonski, will fully fund all public school students, as well as provide free TAFE, guarantee three days subsidised child care and increase childcare workers’ wages.
What is your top three wish list for the electorate?
That we keep the services and support for veterans, young families and the aged and not sack 40,000 public servants who provide these services as Mr Dutton wants to do.
We take advantage of the switch to clean renewable energy and build industry in Cowper to supply the infrastructure needed for this change.
That we continue to support our local community with investments in housing, education and health infrastructure.
Chris Walsh, One Nation
Chris Walsh is a husband, father and grandfather who has worked in the region’s building industry for 45 years and later within the education system.
He is passionate about Australia being a healthy place for all.
What inspired you to run for the seat?
In my lifetime I have watched our country become debt bound, morally corrupt, outward focused and we have lost our Aussie culture and way of life.
I want to help restore our country to one that is financially, morally and socially healthy for our children and grandchildren to inherit.
What do you see as the biggest issues for this election and how do they apply to the region?
The biggest issues in this election are the cost of living, the housing crisis and unsustainable immigration.
Food costs have skyrocketed, electricity is unaffordable and fuel costs keep rising.
People are being forced to sleep in cars and tents as housing affordability, either renting or purchasing, is unreachable.
What is your top three wishlist for the electorate?
For the people of our region to live affordably, sustainably and happy in a country our forebears fought for.
That small businesses and farmers are flourishing with less red tape and government interference.
And for Australian industries to be viable, productive and support Australian jobs in our region.
The remaining two candidates, Peter Jackel from the Family First party and Geoffrey Shannon from the Trumpet of Patriots party have been contacted for inclusion.
Got a news tip? Email: toni.moon@news.com.au
More Coverage
Originally published as Election 2025: Cowper candidates and what they stand for
20 years of business inspires new Sydney Brewery venue
A new Sydney Brewery venue has been launched in the inner south hospitality scene, with hotel owner Dr Jerry Schwartz revealing how his business has overcome tough times.
‘Appalling’: Backlash rises over mega 13-storey RSL club proposal
A southern Sydney RSL club’s colossal redevelopment proposal is gaining momentum amid community concerns it will detract from the suburb’s village feel and “turn into Hurstville’.