Goldstein (Key Seat) Federal Election 2025 Results

Gains part of Bentleigh East from Hotham, and parts of Moorabbin and Highett from Isaacs. The areas added increase the Labor and Green vote in Goldstein and on a two-party preferred basis reduces the underlying Liberal margin from 4.8% to 3.7%. But Goldstein is a Liberal versus Independent Zoe Daniel contest, and the new areas added by the redistribution have no votes for Daniel. If you estimate a notional Independent vote in the areas added to Goldstein based on comparisons with the Senate, then the Independent margin is estimated to rise from 2.9% to 3.3%. See polling place result map below for detail of the boundary change.

Goldstein is the name adopted in 1984 for the electorate previously known as Balaclava. It is named in honour of Vida Goldstein, who became the first woman to contest a national election anywhere in the British Empire when she contested the Victorian Senate in 1903.

Former members for Goldstein include Ian Macphee, a prominent Liberal 'wet' who lost pre-selection to academic and Liberal Party campaign director Dr David Kemp ahead of the 1990 election. It was the furore surrounding the Goldstein pre-selection in 1989 that triggered the challenge that brought an end to John Howard's first period in the Liberal leadership.

Kemp served as MP for Goldstein from 1990 until retiring at the 2004 election. He was a senior Cabinet minister through most of the Howard government, his portfolios included Education, Training and Youth Affairs 1997-2001 and Environment and Heritage 2001-4.

He was succeeded by Andrew Robb, who had previously been National Farmers' Federation Executive Director and later Liberal Party Federal Director. Robb served as a minister in the last year of the Howard government and held the important Trade and Investment portfolios in the Abbott and Turnbull governments. He retired at the 2016 election and was succeeded by Tim Wilson.

At the 2022 election, Goldstein became one of the highest profile seats at the election as a 'teal' contest. Wilson lost a quarter of his 2019 primary vote and was defeated by Independent Zoe Daniel. He returns in 2025 to try and recover his seat.

(Victories by a party of government are indicated by thick coloured underlining.)

(Click on polling place for results)

While the Liberal Party won a majority of Postal votes polling 55.0%, Independent Zoe Daniel won the polling day, pre-poll and absent vote.

As the graph below shows, Golstein is one of the Liberal Party's safest Melbourne seats. The broken line for the 1990 and 1993 elections represents the only period when Goldstein's boundaries did not extend south to Black Rock and Beaumeris. Results 1983-2019