Natalie Fleur Cook is an Australian politician and anti-violence campaigner. She became an anti-violence campaigner after the death of her son in a one-punch attack in 2008. Cook is a Labor member of the South Australian House of Assembly, representing

Hurtle Vale Old Reynella is a metropolitan suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located 20 km south of the Adelaide city centre in the north of the City of Onkaparinga. The suburb is named after John Reynell, a pioneering South Australian winem ...

since the 2018 state election. She previously represented Fisher after winning the

2014 by-election Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unrele ...

, vacated by the death of independent member Bob Such. Cook was elected with a majority of 0.02%, a victory margin of nine votes. She represented the seat until it was abolished in the 2018 election. Cook has served as the

Minister for Human Services The Minister for Government Services is the minister in the Government of Australia responsible for Services Australia. The current minister since 1 June 2022 is the Hon Bill Shorten MP, who also serves as Minister for the National Disability In ...

in the Malinauskas ministry since March 2022. Cook was previously the Parliamentary Secretary for Housing and Urban Development from September 2017 until Labor's loss at the 2018 election, after which she was the Shadow Minister for Human Services in the Labor Opposition.

Anti-violence activism

In 2008 Cook's 17-year-old son Sam Davis was killed in a one-punch attack at a party. Soon after Cook and her partner, Neil Davis, founded the Sammy D Foundation, which runs school programs to spread an anti-violence message and provide positive role models to disadvantaged youth. Cook stood down from the board of the Sammy D Foundation after she was elected to Parliament.

Political career

On 20 October 2014 Cook was pre-selected as the Labor Party candidate for the seat of Fisher in the 2014 Fisher by-election, following the death of incumbent member Bob Such. Cook won the by-election by nine votes from a 7.3 percent two-party swing, resulting in the Weatherill Labor Government changing from

minority Minority may refer to: Politics * Minority government, formed when a political party does not have a majority of overall seats in parliament * Minority leader, in American politics, the floor leader of the second largest caucus in a legislative b ...

majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats. ...

. On a 0.02 percent margin it was the most marginal seat in parliament. A redistribution of electoral boundaries occurs following each South Australian general election and it was decided in 2016 that the electoral division of Fisher would be abolished. Its electors were divided between the seats of

Davenport Davenport may refer to: Places Australia *Davenport, Northern Territory, a locality * Hundred of Davenport, cadastral unit in South Australia **Davenport, South Australia, suburb of Port Augusta **District Council of Davenport, former local govern ...

, Heysen,

, and Waite, with Hurtle Vale designated as Fisher's successor by the South Australian Electoral Districts Boundaries Commission. Cook successfully contested the 2018 general election (when the new boundaries came into effect) in Hurtle Vale, becoming its first representative. Despite Labor losing government, Cook received a swing towards her of 3.6% in two-party preferred terms, taking 55.3% of the two-party preferred vote. In 2021, one of Cook's staff was arrested and charged with producing and possessing child exploitation material. Following Labor's victory at the 2022 election, Cook was appointed as Minister for Human Services in the Malinauskas ministry.

References

External links

*
Parliamentary Profile: SA Labor websiteSammy D Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Nat Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of South Australia Labor Left politicians 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Women members of the South Australian House of Assembly