Representative Libby Coker Contact information

Elizabeth Ann Coker is an Australian politician and member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), currently serving as a member of the House of Representatives for the Victorian seat of Corangamite. Born on June 11, 1962, in Melbourne, Coker grew up in the suburb of Beaumaris before moving with her family to Port Macquarie, New South Wales, where her activism first began.

Coker’s mother, Frances Mann, worked as a nurse, while her father, Jack Coker, was a senior public servant with the Australian Broadcasting Control Board. Coker holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New England, a Bachelor of Letters from Deakin University, and a Diploma of Education from Monash University.

Prior to entering politics, Coker worked briefly as a schoolteacher in outer Melbourne and held various positions in journalism, communications, and public relations, including as a manager at the Victorian Department of Education. She completed a journalism cadetship at the Geelong Advertiser.

Coker’s political career began in 2008 when she was first elected to the Surf Coast Shire council for the Anglesea ward. She served as mayor between 2009 and 2010, and again from 2012 to 2013.

In the 2016 Australian federal election, Coker unsuccessfully contested the seat of Corangamite. However, she was successful in her second attempt at the 2019 federal election, defeating Liberal incumbent Sarah Henderson to win the ultra-marginal seat.

Coker’s dedication to the cause of climate change was revealed in her maiden speech to parliament, where she shared an act of vandalism from her youth. In an act of defiance against deforestation, Coker admitted to spray-painting a real estate sign with her then-boyfriend in Port Macquarie. She now understands the frustration of people who are calling for more government action on climate change.

The 2022 Australian Federal Election saw the ALP win a majority of 77 seats in the lower house, with Coker successfully retaining her seat of Corangamite. However, following a redistribution of electoral boundaries in 2021 by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), Coker no longer resides in the electorate she represents, as the coastal towns of Anglesea and Aireys Inlet, where she resides, are now incorporated into the Division of Wannon.