The current MP is Andrew Willcox of the National Party.

[1] The Division of Dawson includes the city of Mackay, as well as other neighbouring towns.

The division was created in 1949 and is named after Anderson Dawson, the first Labor Premier of Queensland and leader of the first parliamentary socialist government anywhere in the world.

It is located on the North Queensland coast, taking in the towns of Ayr, Bowen, Mackay, Proserpine and some south-eastern suburbs of the city of Townsville.

While Mackay, the largest city wholly within the electorate, is a longstanding Labor stronghold, it is usually not enough to overcome the region's overall conservative leaning.