Ballarat — Australian Federal Election Results

Compiled by EveryElectionResult.com's data team · Last updated 2026-08-30

Ballarat was won by Catherine King (Labor) at the 2019 federal election, with a margin of 22,547 votes over Tim Vo after preferences. This page covers every federal election in Ballarat from 1977 to 2019.

Australia uses instant-runoff (preferential) voting: voters rank candidates in order of preference, and if no one has a majority of first-preference votes, the lowest-placed candidate is eliminated and their votes redistributed to voters' next preference, repeating until one candidate has a majority. The "Winner" and "Margin" below reflect the final result after preferences (equivalent to the AEC's own two-candidate-preferred figure) — not simply whoever led on first preferences, which can occasionally be a different candidate.

Full Election History (After Preferences), 1977–2019

Election	Winner	Party	Final Votes	Final Share	Runner-up	Margin
1977	James Short	Liberal	33,217	58.4%	Norman Baker (Labor)	9,545 (16.8 pts)
1980	John Mildren	Labor	33,623	50.7%	James Short (Liberal)	870 (1.3 pts)
1983	John Mildren	Labor	34,616	53.5%	John Ronan (Liberal)	4,538 (7.0 pts)
1984	John Mildren	Labor	32,411	51.5%	John Ronan (Liberal)	1,906 (3.0 pts)
1987	John Mildren	Labor	34,674	51.9%	John Ronan (Liberal)	2,527 (3.8 pts)
1990	Michael Ronaldson	Liberal	35,043	51.9%	John Mildren (Labor)	2,537 (3.8 pts)
1993	Michael Ronaldson	Liberal	36,787	52.2%	Peter Devereux (Labor)	3,100 (4.4 pts)
1996	Michael Ronaldson	Liberal	40,696	53.7%	Jenny Beacham (Labor)	5,567 (7.3 pts)
1998	Michael Ronaldson	Liberal	40,280	52.8%	Margaret Card (Labor)	4,230 (5.5 pts)
2001	Catherine King	Labor	42,471	52.7%	Charles Collins (Liberal)	4,393 (5.5 pts)
2004	Catherine King	Labor	43,795	52.2%	Elizabeth Matuschka (Liberal)	3,738 (4.5 pts)
2007	Catherine King	Labor	51,056	58.1%	Samantha Mcintosh (Liberal)	14,304 (16.3 pts)
2013	Catherine King	Labor	51,411	54.9%	John Fitzgibbon (Liberal)	9,159 (9.8 pts)
2016	Catherine King	Labor	56,002	57.3%	Sarah Wade (Liberal)	14,297 (14.6 pts)
2019	Catherine King	Labor	62,615	61.0%	Tim Vo (Liberal)	22,547 (22.0 pts)

First-Preference Result by Election

Every candidate's first-preference votes, before any preference redistribution.

1977

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
James Short	Liberal	30,480	48.0%
Norman Baker	Labor	23,487	37.0%
Graham Gough	Australian Democrats	6,298	9.9%
William Griffin	Democratic Labor Party	3,202	5.0%

1980

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
James Short	Liberal	30,551	46.0%
John Mildren	Labor	29,990	45.2%
Graham Gough	Australian Democrats	3,736	5.6%
John Cotter	Democratic Labor Party	2,099	3.2%

1983

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
John Mildren	Labor	34,616	50.7%
John Ronan	Liberal	30,078	44.1%
Graham Gough	Australian Democrats	2,123	3.1%
John Blower	Independent	1,148	1.7%
Albert Ireland	Independent	275	0.4%

1984

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
John Mildren	Labor	31,119	49.4%
John Ronan	Liberal	27,952	44.4%
Graham Gough	Australian Democrats	2,163	3.4%
Douglas Stewart	National	961	1.5%
John Ferwerda	Democratic Labor Party	737	1.2%

1987

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
John Mildren	Labor	31,447	47.1%
John Ronan	Liberal	24,059	36.0%
John Boland	National	8,250	12.3%
Phil Henseleit	Australian Democrats	2,685	4.0%
Martin Greany	Independent	392	0.6%

1990

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Michael Ronaldson	Liberal	31,273	46.3%
John Mildren	Labor	27,609	40.8%
Bill Scetrine	Australian Democrats	5,654	8.4%
Jodie Rickard	Communist Party	2,311	3.4%
Greg Mays	Independent	536	0.8%
George Helon	Independent	212	0.3%

1993

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Michael Ronaldson	Liberal	33,478	47.5%
Peter Devereux	Labor	30,470	43.2%
Jodie Rickard	Communist Party	2,618	3.7%
Geoffrey Hardy	Independent	1,703	2.4%
Rob De Caen	Australian Democrats	1,516	2.1%
Veronica Caven	Independent	740	1.0%

1996

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Michael Ronaldson	Liberal	37,275	49.0%
Jenny Beacham	Labor	31,864	41.9%
Trish Finlay	Australian Democrats	3,208	4.2%
David Cocking	Communist Party	1,781	2.3%
Alan Gray	Independent	947	1.2%
John Neenan	AAFI	801	1.1%
Alan Mcdonald	Independent	186	0.2%

1998

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Michael Ronaldson	Liberal	34,527	45.2%
Margaret Card	Labor	31,232	40.9%
John Blanchard	One Nation	3,738	4.9%
Peta Price	Australian Democrats	2,824	3.7%
John Wiley	Independent	1,569	2.1%
Malcolm Campbell	Greens	1,083	1.4%
Frank Colosimo	Christian Democratic Party	840	1.1%
Ian Harrison	Independent	188	0.2%
Margaret Taylor	Unity	182	0.2%
Alex Graham	Independent	147	0.2%

2001

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Catherine King	Labor	35,558	44.1%
Charles Collins	Liberal	34,512	42.8%
Tony Kelly	Greens	5,126	6.4%
Danii Coric	Australian Democrats	3,300	4.1%
John Blanchard	One Nation	2,053	2.5%

2004

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Catherine King	Labor	37,734	45.0%
Elizabeth Matuschka	Liberal	37,377	44.6%
Tony Kelly	Greens	5,641	6.7%
Vlad Adamek	FFP	1,799	2.1%
Claire Lindorff	Democratic Labor Party	1,109	1.3%
Valiant Von Thule Halborg	CEC	192	0.2%

2007

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Catherine King	Labor	44,191	50.3%
Samantha Mcintosh	Liberal	33,402	38.0%
Belinda Coates	Greens	7,008	8.0%
Dale Butterfield	Family First	3,207	3.7%

2013

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Catherine King	Labor	39,251	41.9%
John Fitzgibbon	Liberal	35,592	38.0%
Stephanie Hodgins-May	Greens	8,911	9.5%
Gerard Murphy	Palmer United Party	3,396	3.6%
Joshua Mathieson	ASP	2,135	2.3%
Anne Foster	Independent	1,139	1.2%
Shane Clark	Family First	1,139	1.2%
Stephen Vereker	Democratic Labor Party	1,022	1.1%
Shane Dunne	Katter's Australian Party	849	0.9%
Ana Rojas	Independent	229	0.2%

2016

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Catherine King	Labor	42,275	43.3%
Sarah Wade	Liberal	33,931	34.7%
Alice Barnes	Greens	10,551	10.8%
Paul Tatchell	National	4,108	4.2%
Dianne Colbert	AC	2,023	2.1%
Graham Howard	Family First	1,896	1.9%
Bren Eckel	Independent	1,802	1.8%
Tran Tran	RUA	1,121	1.1%

2019

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Catherine King	Labor	49,077	47.8%
Tim Vo	Liberal	31,462	30.6%
Karen Mcaloon	Greens	9,077	8.8%
Peter Cozyn	United Australia Party	4,741	4.6%
Bryn Hills	AJP	4,393	4.3%
Nick Shady	Independent	2,288	2.2%
Alex Graham	Independent	1,645	1.6%

Margin Over Time

Final (after-preferences) winning margin, percentage points, coloured by the winning party.

Trend

Ballarat has been contested at 15 federal elections on record since 1977. Winning parties over that span: Liberal, Labor.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who won Ballarat in the 2019 federal election?

Catherine King (Labor) won Ballarat in 2019 after preferences, with 62,615 votes (61.0%) to Tim Vo's 40,068.

Which parties have won Ballarat since 1977?

Since 1977, Ballarat has been won by: Labor, Liberal.

What was the closest result in Ballarat?

The closest result on record for Ballarat was 1980, when John Mildren (Labor) beat James Short by 870 votes (1.3 percentage points) after preferences.