Stay updated with the latest results from in the 2025 Australian Federal Election and follow the live Federal Election results page for more coverage.
9.5% swing to ALP
Preference count
Labor Party
Matt Smith
Vote: 56.1%
52,716
Liberal National Party
Jeremy Neal
Vote: 43.9%
41,268
- Matt Smith leads by 11,448 votes.
- Previously held by LNP with margin of 3.4%.
- Matt Smith secures marginal seat.
- Jeremy Neal fails to succeed Warren Entsch.
First preference
LaborLabor Party
Matt Smith
- Vote:36.5%34,270Swing: +8.9%
LNPLiberal National Party
Jeremy Neal
- Vote:27.3%25,655Swing: -9.4%
GreensGreens
Phillip Musumeci
- Vote:9.3%8,698Swing: -0.7%
One NationOne Nation
Robert Hicks
- Vote:8.0%7,528Swing: +0.6%
Katter's AusKatter's Australian Party
Daniel Collins
- Vote:6.3%5,972Swing: +0.7%
Legalise CannabisLegalise Cannabis
Nic Daniels
- Vote:5.7%5,332Swing: +5.7%
Trumpet of PatriotsTrumpet of Patriots
Greg Ian Dowling
- Vote:2.3%2,147Swing: +2.3%
Family FirstFamily First
Les Searle
- Vote:1.9%1,794Swing: +1.9%
IndependentIndependent
Norman Miller
- Vote:1.7%1,646Swing: +1.7%
LibertarianLibertarian
Lloyd Russell
- Vote:1.0%942Swing: +1.0%
United AustraliaUnited Australia
-
- Vote:0.0%0Swing: -3.9%
OthersOthers
-
- Vote:0.0%0Swing: -8.8%
Cairns and Cape York
Marginal LNP 3.4%
MP
The retiring LNP/Liberal MP is Warren Entsch. He was first elected in 1996, retired in 2007 before returing to represent the seat again since 2010.
Profile
Over 80% of the population of Leichhardt lives in or adjacent to the Cairns metropolitan area. The area of the electorate extends north from Cairns along the 'Marlin Coast' between the Atherton Tablelands and the sea to Mossman, before spreading out to include Cape York north of the Mitchell River and all of the Torres Strait islands. Covers 148,559 sq.kms, an area more than twice the size of Tasmania. It is the third largest electorate in Queensland.
Background
Leichhardt was created when the parliament was expanded in 1949. It is named after German born explorer Ludwig Leichhardt, who disappeared while attempting to cross the continent in 1848.
In total over the period since Federation, Leichhardt has generally been a Labor held seat, but in recent decades it has become something of a bellwether electorate. The seat's elected member has taken their seat on the government benches at every election since 1972, with the notable exceptions of 2010 when Warren Entsch returned from his premature retirement to recover the seat, and again at the 2022 election.
Leichhardt has a history of sitting members building a strong personal following, demonstrated in 1998 when Entsch kept the anti-coalition swing down to 0.5%, the smallest in the state. Entsch increased his majority in both 2001 and 2004, but with his retirement in 2007, there was a swing of 14.3%, Jim Turnour gaining the seat for Labor. With Entsch's return in 2010, the swing to the LNP was well above the Queensland average at 8.8%.
Past Winning Parties
| Year | Winning Party |
|---|---|
| 1972 | ALP |
| 1974 | ALP |
| 1975 | CP |
| 1977 | NAT |
| 1980 | NAT |
| 1983 | ALP |
| 1984 | ALP |
| 1987 | ALP |
| 1990 | ALP |
| 1993 | ALP |
| 1996 | LIB |
| 1998 | LIB |
| 2001 | LIB |
| 2004 | LIB |
| 2007 | ALP |
| 2010 | LNP |
| 2013 | LNP |
| 2016 | LNP |
| 2019 | LNP |
| 2022 | LNP |
(Victories by a party of government are indicated by thick coloured underlining.)
2022 Polling Place Results
Not many electorates produce as varied a set of polling place results as Leichhardt. Labor's vote was as high as 64.6% at Tamwoy Community Hall on Thursday Island while Warren Entsch recorded 71.9% at the Kowanyama Multi Purpose Centre in the southern cape. In a sign of Entsch's personal vote, he recorded two-party preferred majorities in many of Cape York's Aboriginal communities, area where Labor support is traditionally viewed as strong.
(Click on polling place for results)
Past Results
While there is talk of the sitting member factor in Leichhardt, the graph below shows that from election to election, the electorate sits pretty close to the state trend. Labor's victory in 2007 was achieved at the only election since 1996 where Warren Entsch was not their opponent. But the track of results below suggests that Labor's poor overall results in Queensland may be as responsible for the party's lack of success in Leichhardt as any personal vote for Warren Entch.
Results 1983-2019
2022 Preference Flows
2025 Candidates in Ballot Paper Order (10 Candidates)
| Candidate Name | Party |
|---|---|
| DANIELS, Nicholas James Nigel | Legalise Cannabis Party |
| HICKS, Robert | Pauline Hanson's One Nation |
| RUSSELL, Lloyd | Libertarian |
| COLLINS, Daniel | Katter's Australian Party (KAP) |
| SMITH, Matt | Australian Labor Party |
| SEARLE, Les | Family First |
| NEAL, Jeremy | LNP |
| MILLER, Norman | Independent |
| MUSUMECI, Phillip | The Greens |
| DOWLING, Greg Ian | Trumpet of Patriots |
More on Candidates
Matt Smith
Australian Labor Party
At an imposing 210cm tall, Smith was born in Sale, Victoria, but moved to Cairns more than two decades ago where he spent five seasons playing basketball for the local Cairns Taipans. More recently he has worked in the union movement as an organiser with the Together Union. He also holds voluntary basketball clinics with local schools and community groups across far north Queensland.
Jeremy Neal
LNP
Neal isworks as a Paramedic and has spent n15 vyears with the Queensland Ambulance Service. In his time he has worked across far north Queensland in Cairns, Mossman, Mareeba, Kuranda, Cooktown and Bamaga. Neal served briefly on Cairns Regional Council in early 2024, appointed to fill a casual vacancy in January 2024, but unsuccessful at retaining his seat two months later at the March 2024 local government elections.
Norman Miller
Independent
Phillip Musumeci
The Greens
Musumeci is a fourth generation local who was born in Babinda, grew up on a family farm, and now lives in Cairns with his wife and son. He has spent half his working life as an engineer in industry and the other half as a lecturer in computing science and engineering at a number of universities, including James Cook University in Cairns. He co-founded a company exporting printers, has worked at Ingham�s Victoria Sugar Mill improving control algorithms, and now works on engineering precision GPS used in self-driving trucks and container cranes.
Greg Ian Dowling
Trumpet of Patriots
Dowling now lives in Leichhardt but was a Townsville resident when running as the United Australia Party candidate for Herbert at the 2019 and 2022 Federal elections. One of Australia's best rugby league prop forwards, Dowling played league in Townsville and Brisbane before becoming a foundation member of the Brisbane Broncos where he played 75 game between 1988 to 1991. Dowling also played 14 Tests for Australia, 11 State of Origin matches for Queensland and six appearances for the Maroons in the pre-Origin era. He was also an unsuccessful candidate for Townsville Mayor in 2020 and for the state seat of Townsville at the state election the same year.
2022 Result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warren Entsch | LNP | 33,652 | 36.7 | -0.9 |
| Elida Faith | ALP | 25,312 | 27.6 | -1.2 |
| Phillip Musumeci | GRN | 9,143 | 10.0 | -0.4 |
| Geena Court | ONP | 6,822 | 7.4 | +1.4 |
| Rod Jensen | KAP | 5,166 | 5.6 | -2.5 |
| Pat O'Shane | SAL | 3,729 | 4.1 | +4.1 |
| Daniel Lucas Hannagan | UAP | 3,593 | 3.9 | .. |
| Silvia Mogorovich | OTH | 1,641 | 1.8 | +1.8 |
| Susanne Bayly | AJP | 1,253 | 1.4 | +1.4 |
| Adam Cropp | FUS | 930 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Paul Roe | FED | 466 | 0.5 | +0.5 |
| .... | OTH | 0 | 0.0 | -5.1 |
| After Preferences | ||||
| Warren Entsch | LNP | 49,010 | 53.4 | -0.7 |
| Elida Faith | ALP | 42,697 | 46.6 | +0.7 |