Higgins — Australian Federal Election Results

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

Higgins was won by Katie Allen (Liberal) at the 2019 federal election, with a margin of 7,800 votes over Fiona Mcleod after preferences. This page covers every federal election in Higgins from 1949 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), 1949–2019

Election	Winner	Party	Final Votes	Final Share	Runner-up	Margin
1949	Harold Holt	Liberal	26,018	66.8%	Jules Meltzer (Labor)	13,109 (33.7 pts)
1951	Harold Holt	Liberal	24,217	67.8%	Benjamin Nicholas (Labor)	12,727 (35.6 pts)
1954	Harold Holt	Liberal	22,849	65.4%	Benjamin Nicholas (Labor)	10,741 (30.7 pts)
1955	Harold Holt	Liberal	25,476	74.4%	Andrew Hughes (Labor)	16,724 (48.9 pts)
1958	Harold Holt	Liberal	24,486	71.9%	Alfred Shiff (Labor)	14,922 (43.8 pts)
1961	Harold Holt	Liberal	22,004	66.0%	Roger Kirby (Labor)	10,651 (31.9 pts)
1963	Harold Holt	Liberal	22,835	67.7%	Roger Kirby (Labor)	11,920 (35.3 pts)
1966	Harold Holt	Liberal	23,918	71.6%	Bruce Phayer (Labor)	14,408 (43.1 pts)
1969	John Gorton	Liberal	30,191	67.0%	Wilhelm Kapphan (Labor)	15,323 (34.0 pts)
1972	John Gorton	Liberal	29,335	60.2%	David Hardy (Labor)	9,973 (20.5 pts)
1974	John Gorton	Liberal	34,640	62.7%	Wilhelm Kapphan (Labor)	14,026 (25.4 pts)
1975	Roger Shipton	Liberal	35,577	65.0%	Andrew Homer (Labor)	16,443 (30.1 pts)
1977	Roger Shipton	Liberal	36,504	67.8%	Ann Jackson (Labor)	19,196 (35.7 pts)
1980	Roger Shipton	Liberal	37,292	62.4%	Jennifer Bundy (Labor)	14,780 (24.7 pts)
1983	Roger Shipton	Liberal	35,189	59.3%	Jennifer Bundy (Labor)	11,005 (18.5 pts)
1984	Roger Shipton	Liberal	38,140	62.1%	Kenneth Penaluna (Labor)	14,828 (24.1 pts)
1987	Roger Shipton	Liberal	38,328	62.6%	Barbara Higgins (Labor)	15,440 (25.2 pts)
1990	Peter Costello	Liberal	42,323	61.8%	Laurie Walsh (Labor)	16,192 (23.7 pts)
1993	Peter Costello	Liberal	43,491	60.1%	Joe Cerritelli (Labor)	14,659 (20.3 pts)
1996	Peter Costello	Liberal	46,188	60.7%	Ilias Grivas (Labor)	16,326 (21.5 pts)
1998	Peter Costello	Liberal	46,133	59.6%	Jude Wallace (Labor)	14,887 (19.2 pts)
2001	Peter Costello	Liberal	46,583	58.4%	Katarina Stephens (Labor)	13,387 (16.8 pts)
2004	Peter Costello	Liberal	46,561	58.8%	Paul Klisaris (Labor)	13,883 (17.5 pts)
2007	Peter Costello	Liberal	46,559	57.0%	Barbara Norman (Labor)	11,489 (14.1 pts)
2013	Kelly O'dwyer	Liberal	52,323	59.9%	Wesa Chau (Labor)	17,339 (19.9 pts)
2016	Kelly O'dwyer	Liberal	52,359	58.0%	Jason Ball (Greens)	14,427 (16.0 pts)
2019	Katie Allen	Liberal	54,139	53.9%	Fiona Mcleod (Labor)	7,800 (7.8 pts)

First-Preference Result by Election

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

1949

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Harold Holt	Liberal	26,018	66.8%
Jules Meltzer	Labor	12,909	33.2%

1951

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Harold Holt	Liberal	24,217	64.4%
Benjamin Nicholas	Labor	11,490	30.5%
Mary Kent Hughes	Independent	1,925	5.1%

1954

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Harold Holt	Liberal	22,849	65.4%
Benjamin Nicholas	Labor	12,108	34.6%

1955

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Harold Holt	Liberal	25,476	64.4%
Andrew Hughes	Labor	8,752	22.1%
John Fitzgerald	Labor (Anti-Communist)	5,331	13.5%

1958

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Harold Holt	Liberal	24,486	63.2%
Alfred Shiff	Labor	9,564	24.7%
Celia Laird	Democratic Labor Party	4,701	12.1%

1961

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Harold Holt	Liberal	22,004	56.7%
Roger Kirby	Labor	11,353	29.3%
Celia Laird	Democratic Labor Party	5,428	14.0%

1963

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Harold Holt	Liberal	22,835	60.1%
Roger Kirby	Labor	10,915	28.7%
Celia Laird	Democratic Labor Party	4,223	11.1%

1966

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Harold Holt	Liberal	23,918	63.3%
Bruce Phayer	Labor	9,510	25.2%
Frederick Skinner	Democratic Labor Party	4,370	11.6%

1969

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
John Gorton	Liberal	30,191	58.5%
Wilhelm Kapphan	Labor	14,868	28.8%
Peter Grant	Democratic Labor Party	4,208	8.1%
Walter Pickering	AP	1,598	3.1%
Morris Revelman	Independent	777	1.5%

1972

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
John Gorton	Liberal	29,335	53.4%
David Hardy	Labor	19,362	35.3%
Peter Grant	Democratic Labor Party	3,142	5.7%
Jack Hammond	AP	3,069	5.6%

1974

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
John Gorton	Liberal	34,640	58.6%
Wilhelm Kapphan	Labor	20,614	34.9%
Thomas Magree	Democratic Labor Party	2,048	3.5%
Rafe Slaney	AP	1,809	3.1%

1975

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Roger Shipton	Liberal	35,577	60.7%
Andrew Homer	Labor	19,134	32.6%
John Cotter	Democratic Labor Party	2,833	4.8%
Rafe Slaney	AP	1,091	1.9%

1977

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Roger Shipton	Liberal	36,504	55.2%
Ann Jackson	Labor	17,308	26.2%
Jim Thornley	Australian Democrats	8,292	12.5%
Martin Cahill	Democratic Labor Party	3,998	6.0%

1980

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Roger Shipton	Liberal	37,292	57.0%
Jennifer Bundy	Labor	22,512	34.4%
James Thornley	Australian Democrats	4,554	7.0%
Maureen Holmes	Independent	636	1.0%
Wilhelm Kapphan	Independent	437	0.7%

1983

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Roger Shipton	Liberal	35,189	55.2%
Jennifer Bundy	Labor	24,184	37.9%
Antony Siddons	Australian Democrats	3,880	6.1%
Maureen Holmes	Independent	500	0.8%

1984

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Roger Shipton	Liberal	35,062	57.0%
Kenneth Penaluna	Labor	20,543	33.4%
Laurence Levy	Australian Democrats	3,570	5.8%
Babette Francis	National	1,600	2.6%
Robert Semmel	Democratic Labor Party	692	1.1%

1987

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Roger Shipton	Liberal	36,139	59.0%
Barbara Higgins	Labor	19,899	32.5%
Clive Jackson	Australian Democrats	5,188	8.5%

1990

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Peter Costello	Liberal	38,594	56.3%
Laurie Walsh	Labor	18,497	27.0%
Clive Jackson	Australian Democrats	10,826	15.8%
Neil Baluch	Communist Party	670	1.0%

1993

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Peter Costello	Liberal	41,501	57.4%
Joe Cerritelli	Labor	25,077	34.7%
Clive Jackson	Australian Democrats	4,040	5.6%
Lesley Mendelson	Independent	1,740	2.4%

1996

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Peter Costello	Liberal	42,778	55.8%
Ilias Grivas	Labor	23,392	30.5%
Nicolle Kuna	Australian Democrats	7,002	9.1%
Mark Nicholls	Greens	2,995	3.9%
Lorna Scurfield	Independent	490	0.6%

1998

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Peter Costello	Liberal	41,353	53.4%
Jude Wallace	Labor	24,852	32.1%
Craig Shaw	Australian Democrats	5,770	7.5%
Robert Trafficante	Greens	2,155	2.8%
Rod Spencer	One Nation	1,208	1.6%
David Zyngier	Unity	1,031	1.3%
Ian Lawson	Independent	584	0.8%
Michael Dickins	Independent	205	0.3%
Russell Dwyer	Independent	128	0.2%
President Torney	Independent	93	0.1%

2001

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Peter Costello	Liberal	42,437	53.2%
Katarina Stephens	Labor	23,038	28.9%
Katie Moss	Australian Democrats	7,275	9.1%
Tanya Giles	Greens	7,029	8.8%

2004

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Peter Costello	Liberal	43,739	55.2%
Paul Klisaris	Labor	24,166	30.5%
Robert Trafficante	Greens	8,993	11.3%
Adam Mcbeth	Australian Democrats	1,440	1.8%
Glen Pringle	FFP	658	0.8%
Katherine Reid	CEC	243	0.3%

2007

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Peter Costello	Liberal	43,761	53.6%
Barbara Norman	Labor	25,367	31.1%
Michael Wilbur-Ham	Greens	8,777	10.8%
Stephen Mayne	Independent	1,615	2.0%
Mary Dettman	Australian Democrats	990	1.2%
Penny Badwal	Family First	627	0.8%
Genevieve Forde	Independent	265	0.3%
Graeme Meddings	Independent	227	0.3%

2013

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Kelly O'dwyer	Liberal	47,467	54.4%
Wesa Chau	Labor	21,027	24.1%
James Harrison	Greens	14,669	16.8%
Graeme Weber	Independent	1,663	1.9%
Phillip Dall	Palmer United Party	1,385	1.6%
Jamie Baldwin	Family First	742	0.8%
Leanne Price	Independent	354	0.4%

2016

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Kelly O'dwyer	Liberal	46,953	52.0%
Jason Ball	Greens	22,870	25.3%
Carl Katter	Labor	13,495	14.9%
Nancy Bassett	Nick Xenophon Team	2,007	2.2%
Eleonora Gullone	AJP	1,344	1.5%
Rebecca O'brien	Independent	1,265	1.4%
Jessica Tregear	Independent	1,264	1.4%
Robert Kennedy	Liberal Democrats	1,093	1.2%

2019

Candidate	Party	First-Pref. Votes	Share
Katie Allen	Liberal	48,091	47.9%
Fiona Mcleod	Labor	25,498	25.4%
Jason Ball	Greens	22,573	22.5%
Alicia Walker	AJP	1,729	1.7%
Michaela Moran	Independent	1,338	1.3%
Tim Ryan	United Australia Party	1,249	1.2%

Margin Over Time

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

Trend

Higgins has been contested at 27 federal elections on record since 1949. Winning party over that span: Liberal.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who won Higgins in the 2019 federal election?

Katie Allen (Liberal) won Higgins in 2019 after preferences, with 54,139 votes (53.9%) to Fiona Mcleod's 46,339.

Which parties have won Higgins since 1949?

Since 1949, Higgins has been won by: Liberal.

What was the closest result in Higgins?

The closest result on record for Higgins was 2019, when Katie Allen (Liberal) beat Fiona Mcleod by 7,800 votes (7.8 percentage points) after preferences.